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REESE  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Accession  No.     82885     •   Class  No. 


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EDUCATION  AND  LIFE 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE 


PAPERS  AND  ADDRESSES 


BY 

JAMES  H.  BAKER,  M.A.,  LL.D. 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   COLORADO,  AND   FORMERLY 

PRINCIPAL  OF  THE   DENVER   HIGH   SCHOOL;    AUTHOR 

OF   "ELEMENTARY  PSYCHOLOGY" 


^  OF  THE         '  y 

UNIVERSITY 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO, 

91  AND  93  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 
LONDON    AND     BOMBAY 
I9CX) 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND  CO. 


All  rights  reserved 


PreM  of  J.  J.  Uule  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York. 


PREFACE. 

The  papers  and  addresses  constituting  this  vol- 
ume were  prepared  for  various  occasions.  They 
naturally  fall  into  two  groups :  papers  on  Education, 
and  addresses  that  come  under  the  broader  title  of 
Education  and  Life.  The  subjects  of  the  first  group 
are  arranged  in  a  somewhat  logical  order,  namely : 
a  general  view  of  the  field,  especially  as  seen  by 
Plato ;  secondary  education  and  its  relation  to  the 
elementary  and  higher ;  some  principles  and  prob- 
lems of  the  elementary  and  secondary  periods; 
higher  education  ;  the  practical  bearing  of  all  mental 
development. 

Some  of  the  leading  views  presented  in  this  book 
may  be  expressed  in  the  following  propositions : 
While  our  educational  purpose  must  remain  ideal, 
all  education  must  be  brought  in  closer  touch  with 
the  work  and  the  problems  of  to-day.  For  the  safety 
of  democracy  and  the  welfare  of  society,  the  social 
aim  in  the  preparation  for  citizenship  must  be  given 
more  prominence.  Although  methods  that  make 
power  are  the  great  need  of  the  schools,  mental 
power  without  a  content  of  knowledge  means  noth- 
ing; each'' field  of  knowledge  has  its  own  peculiar 
value,  and,  therefore,  the  choice  of  studies  during 
the  period  of  general  training  is  not  a  matter  of  in- 
difference. Studies  belonging  to  a  given  period  are 
also  good  preparation  for  higher  grades  of  work — 


82885 


vi  PREFACE. 

a  view  to  be  more  fully  considered  by  the  colleges. 
In  the  readjustments  of  our  educational  system,  the 
entire  time  between  the  first  grade  and  college  gradu- 
ation must  be  shortened.  Some  common-sense  con- 
cepts which  have  always  dwelt  in  human  conscious- 
ness, properly  kept  in  view,  would  often  prevent  us 
from  wandering  in  strange  pedagogic  bypaths.  We 
have  suffered  from  false  interpretation  of  the  doc- 
trines of  pleasure,  pursuit  of  inclination,  punishment 
by  natural  consequences,  and  following  lines  of  least 
resistance.  Evolution  and  modern  psychology,  in 
their  latest  interpretations,  are  reaching  a  safe  phi- 
losophy for  school  and  life.  At  the  close  of  this 
century  we  have  almost  a  new  insight  into  the  doc- 
trine of  happiness  through  work.  The  heroic, 
ethical,  and  aesthetic  elements  of  character  are  of 
prime  importance.  We  often  find  some  of  the  best 
principles  of  teaching  and  rules  of  life  in  literature 
which  does  not  rank  as  scientific,  but  contains  half- 
conscious,  incidental  expression  of  deep  insight  into 
human  nature,  and  in  some  of  the  writers  referred 
to  in  the  addresses  we  find,  not  only  good  peda- 
gogics, but  fresh  hope  for  both  romance  and  prac- 
tical philosophy.  For  our  view  of  life  and  for  our 
theory  of  education,  we  are  to  interpret  evolution 
and  judge  the  purpose  of  creation,  not  by  the  first 
struggle  of  a  protozoan  for  food,  but  by  the  last 
aspiration  of  man  for  Heaven. 


CONTENTS. 
EDUCATION. 

PAGE 

I.  Heritage  of  the  Scholar         ....        3 

Greek  and  Teuton,  3.  Our  heritage,  5. 
Education,  9.  Force  of  ideas,  14.  The  ma- 
terial and  the  spiritual,  18.  The  American 
student,  19.  Literature  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, 21.  Romance  not  dead,  23.  Aspect  of 
science,  25.    Practical  side,  26. 

II.  Plato's  Philosophy  of  Education  and  Life    .      29 

Historical,  29.  Plato  and  the  influence  of 
Platonism,  32.  Philosophy,  34.  Religion,  38. 
Ethics,  39.  Education,  The  state,  43-46.  Com- 
ments, 46.     "  Plato,  thou  reasonest  well,"  49. 

III.  Secondary  Education:  A  Review  .         .      50 

Introductory,  50.  Summary  of  recommenda- 
tions, 52.  Beginning  certain  studies  earher,  55. 
The  high-school  period,  57.  Identity  of  instruc- 
tion. Better  teachers.  Postponing  final  choice  of 
a  course,  60-61.  Uniformity,  61.  Connection 
between  high  schools  and  colleges.  Standard  of 
professional  schools,  Adequate  work  for  each 
subject.  Reducing  number  of  subjects,  63-64. 
Rational  choice  of  subjects,  64.  Analysis  of 
the  nature  and  importance  of  each  leading  sub- 
ject of  study,  66. 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

rv.    Educational  Values 69 

Criterion,  69.  Values,  69.  Theory  of  equiva- 
lence, 72.  Deviation  from  ideal  courses,  Self- 
activity,  Interest,  Apperception,  Correlation, 
Coordination,  Culture-epochs,  Concentration, 
Laws  of  association,  74-78.     Pleasure,  78. 

V.  Power  as  Related  to  Knowledge  ...      80 

Attempt  to  distinguish  between  power  and 
knowledge,  80.  Illustrations  and  inferences,  81. 
Review  of  article  on  methods  that  make  power, 
84.  The  recluse  and  the  man  of  action,  86. 
Exaggeration  of  power.  Specializing  too  early. 
Kind  of  knowledge  important.  Specific  and  ' 
general  power.  Argument  for  higher  education, 
86-89.  Power  to  enjoy.  Energy  of  character, 
89-91. 

VI.  Moral  Training 92 

Introductory,   92.     Habit,   92.     Leadership, 
95.      Historic     examples.    Literature,    96-98. 
Precept,   Objects  for  activity,   98-99.     Duty, 
\    99.     What  the  schools  are  doing,  loi. 

VII.  Can  Virtue  be  Taught?       .        .        .        .103 

Protagoras'  view,  103.  Ethical  problem  of 
secondary  schools,  103.  Analysis  of  impulses  to 
action,  105.  Relation  of  whole  school  curricu- 
lum to  moral  development,  107.  Some  specific 
ways  of  teaching  practical  ethics,  108.  Interest, 
112.  Romanticism,  113,  Moral  growth  a  growth 
in  freedom,  115, 


CONTENTS,  ix 


JPAGE 


VIII.    College  and  University      .        .        .        ,     ii6 

Summary  of  answers  to  inquiries,  ii6.  The 
college  and  preparation,  117.  Liberal  educa- 
tion, 121.  The  college  and  active  life,  124. 
Ethical  ideals,  125.     University  standards,  127. 

\IX.    Universiit  Ideals 130 

Historical,  130.  The  State  University,  132. 
Some  university  problems,  139. 

X.    General  Education  Practical         .        .        .     145 

Practical  bearing  of  all  education,  145.  World 
still  demands  liberal  education,  Esthetic  and 
ideal  elements,  148-151. 

ELEMENTS  OF  AN   IDEAL  LIFE. 

I.  The  Modern  Gospel  of  Work         .        ,        •     i55 

Philosophy  of  work,  155.  Some  exemplars, 
161.  Modem  romance,  163.  Work  for  others, 
165.  The  complete  man,  167.  Epic  and 
idyl,  169. 

II.  The  Psychology  of  Faith       .        .        .        .172 

Question  stated,  172.  Some  latest  views  of 
evolution,  175.  Some  grounds  of  faith,  176. 
Poetic  insight,  183.     The  practical  life,  184. 

III.  Evolution  of  a  Personal  Ideal    .        .        .187 

Illustration  and  law  of  growth,  187.  Station- 
ary ideals.  Advance,  188-193.  Means  of  de- 
velopment, 193,  Be  of  to-day,  195.  A  creed, 
196. 


X  CONTENTS, 

m 

PAGE 

rv.    The  Greek  Virtues  m  Modern  Appucation  .     199 

Essential  conditions   for  a  satisfactory  life, 

199.     A   sound    body,    200.  Courage,     201. 

Wisdom,  203.     Justice,  205.  Reverence,  207. 
The  practical  world,  209. 

V.  The  Student  AS  Citizen   .        .        .        .        .211' 

Hebrew  and  Greek  standards  of  citizenship, 
211.  Each  a  part  of  the  whole,  213.  Respon- 
sibiHty  of  the  scholar,  214.  The  student's  obli- 
gation to  the  state,  216.  Political  standards, 
218. 

VI.  Optimism  and  Interest 221 

Ground  and  nature  of  interest,  221.  Many 
interests,  222.  Validity  of  instinct,  223.  Moral 
grades,  225.  Cultivation  of  interest,  227.  Hap- 
piness, 230.     Occupation,  232. 

VII.  The    Ethical  and    Esthetic    Elements   in 

Education 234 

Baccalaureate  Day,  234.  Courage  and  oppor- 
tunity, 234.  "  Laughter  of  the  soul  at  itself," 
237.  Attitude  toward  rehgion,  238.  Love  of 
art,  241. 

VIII.  Progress  as  Realization      ....    243 

Theme  illustrated,  243.  Individual  history, 
244.  Ideals  and  development,  245.  Signifi- 
cance of  higher  emotional  life,  250.  Future  of 
history  and  philosophy,  252.     Realization,  253. 


EDUCATION. 


UNIVERSITY 

EDUCATION. 


HERITAGE   OF  THE   SCHOLAR. 

For  a  thousand  years  before  the  Teuton  appeared 
on  the  scene  of  civilization,  the  sages  had  been  teach- 
ing in  the  agora  of  Athens  and  in  the  groves  and 
gardens  of  its  environs.  There  profound  subjective 
philosophies  were  imparted  to  eager  seekers  for 
truth,  and  in  the  schools  geometry,  rhetoric,  music, 
and  gymnastics  gave  to  the  Attic  youth  a  culture 
more  refined  than  was  ever  possessed  by  any  other 
people.  The  Athenians  were  familiar  with  a  litera- 
ture which,  for  purity  and  elegance  of  style,  was 
never  surpassed.  The  Greeks  believed  with  Plato, 
that  "  rhythm  and  harmony  find  their  way  into  the 
secret  places  of  the  soul,  on  which  they  mightily 
fasten,  bearing  grace  in  their  movements,  and  mak- 
ing the  soul  graceful  of  him  who  is  rightly  educated." 
There  temples  rose  with  stately  column  and  sculp- 
tured frieze,  and  art  fashioned  marble  in  the  images 
of  the  gods  with  a  transcendent  skill  that  gave  an 
enduring  name  to  many  of  its  devotees. 

Meantime  our  ancestors  were  wandering  westward 
through  the  forests  of  Europe,  or  were  dwelling  for 
a  time  in  thatched  huts  on  some  fertile  plain,  or  in 
some  inviting  glade  or  grove.  But  these  children  of 
the  forest,  almost  savages,  possessed  the  genius  of 


4  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

progress,  a  power  that  turned  to  its  own  uses  the 
civilization  of  the  past,  and  almost  wholly  determined 
the  character  of  modern  history.  They  highly  es- 
teemed independence  and  honor.  In  their  estimate 
of  woman  they  stood  above  the  people  of  antiquity, 
and  the  home  was  held  sacred.  They  possessed  a 
practical  and  earnest  spirit,  an  inborn  dislike  for 
mere  formalism,  and  a  regard  for  essentials  that  later 
developed  in  scientific  discovery  and  independence 
of  thought.  The  Teuton  had  a  nature  in  which  ideas 
took  a  firm  root,  and  he  had  a  profoundly  religious 
spirit,  impressible  by  great  religious  truths.  He 
listened  to  the  rustle  of  the  oak  leaves  in  his  sacred 
groves,  as  did  the  Greeks  at  Dodona,  and  they  whis- 
pered to  him  of  mysterious  powers  that  manifested 
themselves  through  nature.  The  scalds,  the  old 
Teutonic  poets,  sang  in  weird  runic  rhymes  of  the 
valorous  deeds  of  their  ancestors. 

How  the  Teutons  hurled  themselves  against  the 
barriers  of  the  Roman  Empire,  how  they  overran  the 
fields  of  Italy,  how  they  absorbed  and  assimilated 
to  their  own  nature  what  was  best  in  the  civilization 
of  the  ancients,  how  they  formed  the  nuclei  of  the 
modern  nations,  how  the  renaissance  of  the  ancient 
literature  and  art  in  Italy  spread  over  Western  Eu- 
rope and  reached  England,  and  later  an  offshoot  was 
transplanted  to  American  soil — these  and  similar 
themes  constitute  some  of  the  most  interesting  por- 
tions of  history.  Not  least  important  is  the  fact 
that  the  Roman  world  gave  the  Teutons  the  religion 
of  Christ,  that  highest  development  of  faith  in  things 
not  seen,  which,  to  the  mind  of  many  a  searcher  in 
rational  theology,  is  a  necessary  part  of  a  complete 
plan,  to  a  belief  in  which  we  are  led  by  a  profoundly 


HERITAGE   OF  THE  SCHOLAR,  5 

contemplative  view  of  nature  and  human  life.  We 
study  the  past  to  know  the  present.  Man  finds 
himself  only  by  a  broad  view  of  the  world  and  of  his- 
tory, together  with  a  deep  insight  into  his  own  be- 
ing. Our  present  institutions  are  understood  better 
when  viewed  historically ;  in  the  light  of  history  our 
present  opportunities  and  obligations  assume  fuller 
significance. 

By  the  mingling  of  two  streams,  one  flowing  from 
the  sacred  founts  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  other 
springing  from  among  the  rocks  and  pines  of  the 
German  forests,  a  current  of  civilization  was  formed 
which  swept  onward  and  broadened  into  a  placid 
and  powerful  river.  Let  us  view  the  character  of 
the  present  period,  and  learn  to  value  what  has  come 
down  to  us  from  the  past — our  heritage  of  institu- 
tions and  ideas,  a  heritage  derived  from  the  two 
sources,  Greco-Roman  and  Teutonic. 

The  independent,  practical,  investigating  energy 
of  the  Teutonic  character  has  made  this  an  age  of 
scientific  discovery  and  material  progress.  The 
forces  of  nature  are  turned  to  man's  uses.  Science 
discovers  and  proclaims  the  laws  of  nature's  pro- 
cesses, and  evolution  admits  that,  in  view  of  every 
phenomenon,  we  are  in  the  presence  of  an  inscruta- 
ble energy  that  orders  and  sustains  all  nature's  mani- 
festations. The  ideas  of  the  Christian  religion,  uni- 
versally received  by  the  new  peoples,  in  the  course  of 
centuries  have  forced  themselves  in  their  full  mean- 
ing upon  the  minds  of  men,  and  they  determine  more 
than  all  else  the  altruistic  spirit  of  the  age.  Altruism 
is  the  soul  of  Christianity ;  it  has  become  a  forceful  » 
and  practical  idea,  and  it  promises  greater  changes  ^ 


6  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

in  political  and  social  conditions  than  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  The  religious  revolt  of  the  sixteenth 
century  is  a  Teutonic  inheritance — a  revolt  which 
transmitted  some  evils,  but  which  abjured  formalism 
and  based  merit  upon  the  essential,  conscious  atti- 
tude of  man.  If  the  impulse  that  grew  into  the 
revolution  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  led  to 
political  emancipation  was  not  of  Teutonic  origin,  it 
was  received  and  cherished  everywhere  by  Teutonic 
peoples,  and  was  carried  by  them  to  permanent 
conclusions.  The  modern  Teuton  is  found  in  his 
highest  development  in  the  intelligent  American  of 
to-day.  The  ancient  Teuton  caught  up  the  torch  of 
civilization,  and  in  the  fourteen  centuries  since  has 
carried  it  far.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  return  kindly  made 
by  fate  that  the  light  of  that  torch  was  for  many 
years  a  beacon  to  benighted  Italy.  The  modern 
Teuton  extends  to  her  the  hand  of  enlightened  sym- 
pathy, and  remembers  in  gratitude  the  great  gift 
received  from  her  in  the  early  centuries. 

And  we  inherit  from  the  ancients,  those  master 
minds  that  were  the  authors  of  great  conceptions 
when  the  world  was  young.  Greece  was  the  Shake- 
speare of  the  ancient  world.  It  transmuted  all  that 
it  had  received  from  the  nations  of  the  Orient  into 
forms  of  surpassing  genius,  even  as  the  great  master 
of  the  Elizabethan  period  of  our  era  turned  all 
that  he  touched  into  precious  metal.  When  the 
world  was  crude,  and  there  were  no  great  origi- 
nals to  imitate,  it  meant  much  to  create,  and  create 
so  perfectly  that  many  of  the  results  have  ever  since 
been  ideals  for  all  peoples.  Phidias  and  Apelles, 
Pericles  and  Demosthenes,  Homer  and  Euripides, 
Herodotus  and   Xenophon,  Aristides,  Socrates  and 


HERITAGE   OF   THE  SCHOLAR,  j 

Plato  and  Aristotle — artists,  statesmen,  orators,  poets, 
historians,  men  great  and  just,  philosophers !  Can 
we  wonder  that  the  glory  of  their  names  increases 
with  time?  They  were  men  whom  no  truly  inde- 
pendent worker  ever  surpassed.  No  wonder  the  soil 
of  Greece  is  sacred,  and  that  men  of  to-day  go  back 
in  imagination  across  the  chasm  of  ages  and  visit  it 
with  reverential  spirit.  No  wonder  we  still  go  to  the 
original  sources  for  culture  and  inspiration.  No  won- 
der the  great  and  noble  men  of  Greece  are  still  among 
the  best  examples  for  the  instruction  of  youth.  The 
pass  at  Thermopylae,  where  perished  the  three  hun- 
dred, the  Parthenon,  are  hallowed  by  sacred  memo- 
ries. The  Greeks  had  a  marvellous  love  for  nature. 
They  saw  it  instinct  with  life,  and  in  fancy  beheld 
some  personal  power  moving  in  the  zephyr,  or  flow- 
ing with  the  river,  or  dwelling  in  the  growing  tree. 
Their  mythology  has  become  the  handmaid  of  lit- 
erature. Parnassus,  Apollo  and  the  Sacred  Nine 
command  almost  a  belief  with  our  reverence.  If  the 
seats  on  the  sacred  mount  are  already  filled  with  the 
great  men  of  the  past,  at  least  we  can  sit  at  their 
feet.  The  study  of  the  humanities  has  a  peculiar 
value,  because  it  develops  distinctively  human  possi- 
bilities. Thought  and  language  are  mysteriously 
connected.  One  of  the  most  noted  philologists  of 
the  age  claims  that  thought  without  language  is  im- 
possible. The  use  of  language  helps  to  develop  con- 
cepts. Fine  literature,  with  its  thoughts,  its  beauty 
of  expression,  constructs,  as  it  were,  the  best  chan- 
nels for  original  expression.  Art  strives  for  perfec- 
tion, cultivates  ideals,  refines  and  ennobles.  It  creates 
an  understanding  of  all  the  ideals  that  may  be  in- 
cluded in  the  categories  of  the  True,  the  Beautiful, 


8  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

and  the  Good ;  hence  the  interpretation  of  the 
I  aphorism  of  Goethe,  "  The  beautiful  is  greater 
than  the  good,  for  it  includes  the  good  and  adds 
something  to  it."  Art  gives  strength  to  the  aspira- 
tions, and  lends  wings  to  the  spirit.  The  study  of 
the  humanities  is  a  grand  means  of  real  develop- 
ment. 

The  present  offers  the  student  two  sides  of  educa- 
tion— the  modern  and  the  classic,  the  sciences  and 
the  humanities.  Ever  since  the  Baconian  method 
was  given  to  the  world  the  interest  in  science  has 
steadily  increased,  until  now  there  is  danger  of 
neglecting  the  classic  side.  Each  side  of  education 
has  its  value ;  either  alone  makes  a  one-sided  man ; 
let  neither  be  neglected. 

In  this  country  to-day  the  student  moves  in  the 
vanguard  of  progress ;  he  is  heir  to  all  that  is  best 
in  the  past,  and  his  heritage  makes  for  him  oppor- 
tunities full  of  promise. 

All  the  soul  growth  of  our  ancestors  modifies  the 
mechanism  of  our  intellectual  processes,  and  gives  us 
(  minds  that  fall  into  rhythm  with  the  march  of  ideas. 
We  profit  by  all  the  past  has  done ;  the  active  fac- 
tors in  this  age  of  freedom — intellectual,  spiritual, 
/  and  political — are  multiplied  by  millions,  and  each 
profits  by  the  efforts  of  all.  Intellectual  acquire- 
ment is  a  duty ;  to  be  ignorant  is  to  be  behind  the 
spirit  of  the  time.  There  are  problems  yet  to  be 
solved ;  there  are  duties  to  ourselves  and  the  age. 
Every  individual  tendency,  fitness,  and  inclination 
can  be  met  by  the  diversity  of  occupations,  of  knowl- 
edge, and  of  fields  of  investigation.  Men  of  moral 
stamina  are  still  needed  to  stand  for  all  that  is  best. 
New  ideals  are  to  be  created  that  shall  typify  an  age 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR.  g 

which  yet  lacks  poetic  expression.  When  we  con- 
sider the  evolution  of  mail  and  of  institutions,  we 
see  that  we  are  very  far  from  perfection,  and  that 
each  period  of  history  is  a  period  of  development. 
We  read  of  the  brutal  traits  of  our  ancestors,  their 
ignorance,  and  their  superstition,  and  we  can  still 
discover  the  same  tendencies,  only  more  refined  and 
better  controlled.  Along  the  avenue  of  progress  we 
march  toward  the  high  destiny  of  the  race.  Evolu- 
tion is  the  law  both  of  Spencer  and  of  Hegel.  Every 
struggle  of  an  earnest  soul  gives  impetus  to  the 
movement. 

A  Shakespeare,  reared  on  the  steppes  of  Central 
Asia,  among  the  Tartar  hordes  of  Genghis  Khan, 
would  have  been  a  savage— a  poetic  savage,  perhaps, 
but  still  a  savage — bloodthirsty,  restless,  and  wild. 
Born  of  a  primitive  race,  in  some  sunny  clime,  he 
would  have  looked  dreamily  upon  the  world  and  life, 
somewhat  as  an  animal  of  the  forest ;  he  would  have 
fed  on  the  spontaneous  products  of  nature,  and  have 
reposed  under  the  shadow  of  his  palm  tree.  Shake- 
speare of  England,  by  a  long  process  of  education, 
gained  the  ideas  of  his  age  and  the  culture  of  the 
great  civilizations  of  the  past.  His  education  and  the 
forceful  ideas  of  a  period  of  thought  and  reformation 
and  investigation  stimulated  the  distinctively  human 
intelligence,  and  awakened  subjective  analysis  and 
poetic  fancy,  and  he  made  true  pictures  of  human  char- 
acter, world  types,  in  history,  tragedy,  and  comedy. 
Education  enables  man  to  begin  real  life  where  the 
previous  age  left  off.  It  is  an  inherited  capital. 
Ideas,  fancies,  principles,  laws,  discoveries,  experience 
from  failures,  which  were  the  work  of  centuries,  are 


lO  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

,  furnished  ready  at  hand  as  tools  for  the  intellectual 

y  workman.     The  present  is  understood  in  the  light  of 

history ;   the   methods    of   investigating  nature   are 

transmitted.     The  growth  of  the  race  is  epitomized 

in  the  individual. 

Let  us  look  at  the  sphere  of  education.  Here  is 
the  world  of  infinite  variety,  form,  and  color.  The 
savage  looks  upon  it  with  superstitious  wonder,  and, 
perhaps,  with  a  kind  of  sensuous  enjoyment.  He 
knows  not  how  to  wield  nature  to  practical  ends. 
But  the  book  of  science  is  opened  to  him  through 
education.  He  learns  the  secrets  of  nature's  labora- 
tory and,  as  with  magic  wand,  he  marshals  the  atoms 
and  causes  new  forms  of  matter  to  appear  for  his  uses. 
He  learns  the  manifestations  and  transmutations  of 
nature's  forces,  and  he  trains  them  to  obey  his  will 
and  do  his  work.  He  observes  how,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  a  distinct  order  of  forces,  organic  forms  rise 
on  the  face  of  nature  and  develop  into  higher  and 
higher  classes,  and,  incidentally,  he  learns  the  uses  of 
vegetable  products.  He  knows  the  laws  of  number ; 
commodities,  structures,  and  forces  are  quantitatively 
estimated,  and  material  progress  becomes  possible. 
1^  He  traces  the  history  of  nations  and  understands  the 
-A  problems  of  the  present.  He  catches  the  inspiration 
of  the  geniuses  of  literature,  and  he  rises  to  a  level 
with  the  great  minds  of  the  earth  ;  he  becomes  a 
creature  of  ideas,  sentiments,  aspirations,  and  ideals, 
instead  of  remaining  a  mere  animal.  He  learns  the 
languages  of  cultured  peoples,  and  gets  at  their  inner 
life  ;  learns  their  concepts,  the  polish  of  their  expres- 
sion, and  becomes  more  enlightened  and  refined.  He 
studies  the  subjective  side  of  man,  that  which  is  a 
mirror  of  all  that  is  objective,  and  he  understands  his 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR.  \\ 

own  powers  and  possibilities,  and  the  laws  of  human 
growth.  He  studies  philosophy,  and  he  stands  face 
to  face  with  the  ultimate  conceptions  of  creation  and 
gains  a  basis  for  his  thought  and  conduct.  This  is  a 
practical  view,  and  pertains  to  the  making  of  a  useful 
and  strong  man — master  over  the  forces  of  nature, 
able  to  use  ideas  for  practical  ends,  and  capable  of 
continuous  growth. 

But  knowledge  as  such,  and  its  use  for  manhood 
and  happiness,  are  often  underestimated.  To  know 
the  processes  and  history  of  inorganic  nature,  to  trace 
the  growth  of  worlds  and  know  their  movements,  and 
number  the  starry  hosts,  to  study  the  structure  and 
development  of  all  organic  life,  to  know  the  infallible 
laws  of  mathematics,  to  live  amid  the  deeds  of  men 
of  all  ages,  to  imbibe  their  richest  thoughts,  to  stand 
in  presence  of  the  problems  of  the  infinite,  make  a 
mere  animal  man  almost  a  god,  direct  him  toward  the 
realization  of  the  great  possibilities  of  his  being. 
Imagine  a  man  born  in  a  desert  land,  and  shut  in  by 
the  walls  of  a  tent  from  the  glories  of  nature.  Im- 
agine him  to  have  matured  in  body  with  no  thought 
or  language  other  than  pertaining  to  the  needs  of 
physical  existence.  Imagine  him,  since  we  may  im- 
agine the  impossible,  to  have  a  fully  developed  power 
for  intellectual  grasp  and  emotional  life.  Then  open 
up  to  him  the  beauty  of  the  forest,  the  poetry  of  the 
sea,  the  grandeur  of  the  mountains,  and  the  sublimity 
of  the  starry  heavens ;  let  him  read  the  secrets  of 
nature ;  present  to  him  the  writings  of  men  whose 
lives  have  been  enriched  by  their  own  labor,  and 
whose  faces  radiate  an  almost  divine  expression  born 
of  good  thoughts ;  reveal  to  him  the  glowing  concepts 
that  find  expression  through  the  chisel  or  brush  of 


12  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

the  artist,  and  give  him  a  view  from  the  summit  of 
philosophy.  Would  he  not  look  upon  nature  as  a 
marvellous  temple  of  infinite  proportions,  adorned 
with  priceless  gems  and  frescoed  with  master  hand  ? 
Would  he  not  regard  art  and  thought  as  divinely  in- 
spired ?  And  this  picture  is  hardly  overdrawn  ;  such 
a  contrast,  only  less  in  degree,  lies  between  the 
vicious,  ignorant  boor,  given  to  animal  pleasures,  and 
the  scholar.  Learning  draws  aside  the  tent  folds  and 
reveals  the  wonders  of  the  temple.  Man  must  have 
enjoyment ;  if  not  intellectual,  then  it  will  be  sensuous 
and  degrading.  Here  is  an  enjoyment  that  does  not 
pall,  a  stimulus  that  does  not  react,  a  gratification  that 
ennobles. 

Moreover,  education  trains  the  powers  through 
knowledge.  The  power  to  observe  accurately  the 
world  of  beauty  and  wonder ;  the  power  to  recombine 
and  modify  in  infinite  kaleidoscopic  forms  the  per- 
cepts and  images  of  the  mind,  making  possible  all 
progress ;  the  power  to  elaborate,  verify,  and  general- 
ize; the  power  to  feel  the  greatness  of  truth,  the 
rhythms  and  harmonies  of  the  world  and  the  beauty 
of  its  forms ;  the  power  to  perceive  and  feel  the  right ; 
the  power  to  guide  one's  self  in  pursuit  of  the  best — 
these  are  worth  more  than  mere  practical  acquisitions 
and  mere  knowledge,  for  they  make  possible  all  ac- 
quisition and  growth  and  enjoyment. 

The  thoughtless  person  who  argues  against  educa- 
tion little  knows  how  much  he  and  all  men  are  in- 
debted to  it.  The  demand  for  general  intelligence  is 
increasing,  and  the  capabilities  of  the  race  for  knowl- 
edge are  greater  with  each  educated  generation. 
Earnest  men  are  endeavoring  to  make  a  degree  of 
culture  almost  universal,  as  is  shown  by  the  "  Chau- 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR. 


13 


tauqua  Scheme  *'  and  the  plan  of  *'  University  Exten- 
sion." Education  adheres  less  rigidly  to  the  old  lines, 
and  men  can  gain  a  more  purely  English  training,  in- 
cluding scientific  preparation  for  industrial  and  com- 
mercial pursuits.  These  schemes  are  useful  because 
they  tend  to  popularize  education,  and  they  reach  a 
class  which  would  not  be  reached  by  the  usual  courses 
of  study. 

But  there  is  danger  of  departing  from  the  ideal 
type  of  education — education  for  general  training 
and  knowledge  and  manhood.  Not  that  traditional 
courses  must  be  rigidly  adhered  to,  for  a  new  field  of 
learning  has  been  opened  in  which  may  be  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  material  nature.  But,  in  the  zeal  for 
the  modern  side  of  education,  there  is  danger  of 
neglecting  the  ancient,  the  classic  side,  the  humani- 
ties. Language  and  literature,  history  and  philos- 
ophy and  art,  since  they  train  expression  and  culti- 
vate ideals,  and  teach  the  motives  of  men  and  the 
nature  and  destiny  of  the  human  race,  since  they 
deal  with  the  spiritual  more  than  with  the  material, 
since  they  belong  exclusively  to  man,  since  they 
stimulate  the  activity  of  divine  powers  and  instincts, 
since  they  are  peculiarly  useful  as  mental  gymnastics, 
since  they  are  culturing  and  refining — they  still  have 
and  always  will  have  a  high  value  in  ideal  education. 
The  ancient  side  and  the  modern  side  should  fairly 
share  the  honors  in  a  college  course. 

The  arguments  for  so-called  practical  education  are 
fallacious,  whenever  the  nature,  time,  and  possibilities 
of  the  pupil  will  enable  him  to  develop  anything 
more  than  the  bread-winning  capabilities.  When 
one  knows  the  pure  mathematics,  his  knowledge  can 
be  applied  in  the  art  of  bookkeeping  with  a  mini- 


14 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


mum  effort.  Bookkeeping  is  a  mere  incident  in  the 
line  of  mathematical  work.  A  year  in  a  school  of 
general  education,  even  to  the  prospective  clerk  or 
merchant,  should  be  worth  ten  times  as  much  as  a 
year  spent  in  the  practice  of  mechanical  processes. 
United  States  history  is  valuable  to  an  American 
youth,  but,  while  with  one  view  America  is  in  the 
forefront  of  progress,  there  is  another  view  in  which 
our  century  of  history  is  only  an  incident  in  the 
march  of  events.  The  present  can  be  understood 
only  historically,  and  the  elements  of  our  civilization 
should  be  known  in  the  light  of  the  world's  history. 
Not  only  should  we  adhere  to  our  faith  in 
university  education,  but  we  can  find  reasons  for 
raising  the  standard  of  a  part  of  university  work. 
Even  now,  no  student  should  receive  a  professional 
degree  who  has  not  previously  obtained  at  least  a 
complete  high-school  education ;  and  the  time  may 
come  when,  in  all  institutions,  at  least  two  years  of 
college  life  will  be  required  as  a  basis  for  a  doctor's 
or  a  lawyer's  degree.  Graduate  courses  have  become 
a  prominent  feature  of  many  American  universities, 
and  year  by  year  larger  numbers  of  students  seek 
higher  degrees.  As  the  race  advances,  the  prepara- 
tion for  active  life  will  necessarily  enlarge. 

Many  know  but  little  of  the  forces  that  move  the 
world.  Material  progress  does  not  make  the  spirit 
of  the  age,  but  the  spirit  of  the  age  makes  material 
progress.  The  outward  works  of  man  are  a  result  of 
the  promptings  of  the  inner  spirit.  It  is  the  spirit  of 
a  nation  that  wins  battles,  the  spirit  of  a  nation  that 
makes  inventions.  Take  away  ideals  and  the  world 
would  be  inert.     It  is  spirit  that  makes  the  difference 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR. 


15 


between  the  American  soldier  fighting  for  his  liberty 
and  the  Hessian  hireling  or  the  old  ItaHan  condottieri 
who  played  at  war  for  the  highest  bidder.  Here  is 
the  difference  between  a  slave  and  a  freeman,  be- 
tween the  oppressed  of  old  countries  and  the  free 
American. 

Ideas  move  the  world.  It  is  related  that  in  the 
second  Messenian  war  the  Spartans,  obeying  the 
Delphic  oracle,  sent  to  Athens  for  a  leader,  and  the 
Athenians  in  contempt  sent  them  a  lame  school- 
master. But  the  schoolmaster  had  within  him  the 
spirit  of  song,  and  he  so  inspired  the  Spartans  that 
they  finally  gained  the  victory.  In  the  contests 
with  England,  during  the  time  of  the  Edwards,  the 
national  spirit  of  Wales  was  aroused  and  sustained 
by  the  songs  of  her  bards.  The  Marseillaise  Hymn 
helped  to  keep  alive  the  fire  on  the  altar  of  French 
liberty.  It  is  only  as  man  has  hope,  aspirations, 
courage,  that  he  acts,  and,  in  order  to  progress,  he 
must  act  towards  ideals.  The  mind  imagines  higher 
things  to  be  attained,  and  endeavor  follows. 

Natural  features  of  sea  or  forest  or  mountain  or 
desert  have  something  to  do  with  the  character  and 
ideas  of  a  people ;  so,  also,  the  material  wealth  in 
lands  and  buildings.  But  to  understand  the  great 
movements  of  history,  we  must  look  at  the  g^eat 
psychical  factors.  Our  heritage  of  ideas,  our  love  of 
liberty,  our  Puritan  standards,  our  hatred  of  tyranny, 
our  independence  of  spirit,  are  strong  characteristics 
that  make  us  a  distinctive  and  progressive  people. 
It  was  an  idea  that  gave  England  her  Magna  Charta ; 
an  idea  that  made  us  a  free  and  independent  nation  ; 
an  idea  that  preserved  our  Union. 

A  man  makes  a  labor-saving  invention,  and  the 


1 6  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

ease  and  luxury  of  physical  living  are  increased,  and 
men  bless  the  inventor  and  proclaim  that  the  prac- 
tical man  alone  is  of  use  to  the  world.  Another  gives 
to  the  world  a  thought — a  great  work  of  art,  a  song, 
or  a  philosophy — and  it  takes  possession  of  men  and 
becomes  an  incentive  to  noble  living,  and  the  race 
has  truly  progressed.  Let  the  spirit  that  possesses 
our  people  die  out  and  all  material  prosperity  would 
perish. 

In  primitive  times,  when  men  lived  in  caves,  and, 
as  Charles  Lamb  humorously  says,  went  to  bed  early 
because  they  had  nothing  else  to  do,  and  grumbled  at 
each  other,  and,  in  the  absence  of  candles,were  obliged 
to  feel  of  their  comrades'  faces  to  catch  the  smile 
of  appreciation  at  their  jokes — then,  if  a  great  man 
had  a  thought,  he  related  it  to  his  neighbor,  and  his 
neighbor  told  it  to  a  friend,  and  it  did  good.  Later, 
a  great  man  had  a  thought,  and  he  wrought  it  out 
laboriously  on  a  parchment  and  loaned  it  to  his 
neighbor,  and  he  sent  it  to  a  friend,  and  many  came, 
sometimes  from  far,  to  read  it,  and  it  did  more 
good.  In  our  age  a  great  man  had  a  thought  and  he 
printed  it  in  a  book,  and  thousands  read  it,  and  it 
was  translated  into  many  tongues,  and  his  words  be- 
came household  words,  and  the  race  had  taken  a 
step  forward.  The  world  advances  more  rapidly  to- 
day because  ideas  spread  with  such  facility. 

What  is  called  contemptuously  "  book  learning," 
the  education  of  young  men  in  the  schools,  helps  to 
preserve,  increase,  make  useful,  and  transmit  all  the 
discoveries  and  the  best  thoughts  of  past  genera- 
tions. The  student  is  likely  to  be  a  man  of  ideas,  of 
ideals,  and  hence  he  is  the  great  power  of  the 
world. 


HERITAGE   OF   THE    SCHOLAR, 


17 


The  man  of  affairs  says  to  the  ideal  man :  There  is 
nothing  of  value  but  railroads,  houses,  inventions, 
and  creature  comforts.  Of  what  use  are  your  his- 
tory, poetry,  philosophy,  and  stuff?  The  scholar 
replies :  Every  man  contributes  something  to  the 
common  good.  I  am  improved  by  your  practical 
view  and  skill,  and  you  are  unconsciously  benefited 
by  my  ideas.  You  live,  without  knowing  it,  in  an  at- 
mosphere of  ideas,  and  the  practical  men  of  to-day 
breathe  it  in  and  are  inspired  and  stimulated  by  it. 
Without  the  atmosphere  of  ideas,  your  inventions 
and  material  progress  would  not  be. 

The  culture  of  the  ancients  directly  encourages 
ideal  standards.  It  was  a  happy  thought  of  the 
Greek  that  personified  principles  and  ideas,  that  cre- 
ated muses  to  preside  over  the  forms  of  literature. 
Let  us  deify  our  best  ideals  and  set  up  altars  for 
their  worship. 

Men  laugh  at  the  nonsense  of  poetry  and  ideal 
standards,  but  thoughtful  men  pity  them.  I  remem- 
ber listening  some  years  since  to  a  prominent  lec- 
turer in  a  large  town.  He  began  with  a  prelude,  in 
which  with  masterly  strokes  he  pictured  the  admir- 
able location  of  the  city,  its  relation  to  the  en- 
vironing regions,  the  whole  country,  and  the  world, 
its  probable  growth,  its  material  promise,  and  its 
opportunity  for  social,  intellectual,  and  moral  de- 
velopment, and  he  pointed  to  the  picture  as  an 
inspiration  for  young  men.  Then  he  entered  upon 
his  main  theme,  *'  Proofs  of  Immortality."  As  with 
dramatic  distinctness  he  made  one  point  after  an- 
other, he  held  his  vast  audience  breathless  and  spell- 
bound. The  next  morning  I  took  up  my  paper  at 
the  breakfast  table  and  noted  the  glaring  headlines 


1 8  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

and  details  of  robberies,  murders,  and  domestic 
scandals,  while,  in  an  obscure  corner,  expressed  in 
a  contemptuous  manner,  were  a  dozen  lines  upon 
the  magnificent  oratory  and  supreme  themes  of  the 
evening  before.  Is  there  not  room  for  the  scholar 
with  his  ideals  ? 

Rudyard  Kipling,  that  Englishman  in  a  strange 
oriental  garb,  visited  one  of  the  great  and  prosper- 
ous cities  of  our  country.  He  was  met  by  a  com- 
mittee of  citizens  and  shown  the  glory  of  the  town. 
They  gave  him  the  height  of  their  blocks,  the  cost  of 
their  palace  hotels,  and  the  extent  of  their  stock- 
yards, expecting  him  to  express  wonder  and  admira- 
tion. He  surprised  them  by  exclaiming,  "  Gentle- 
men, are  these  things  so  ?  Then,  indeed,  I  am  sorry 
for  you ; "  and  he  called  them  barbarians,  savages, 
because  they  gloried  in  their  material  possessions, 
and  said  nothing  of  the  morals  of  the  city,  nothing 
of  her  great  men,  nothing  of  her  government,  her 
charities,  and  her  art.  He  called  them  barbarians 
because  they  valued  their  adornments,  not  for  the  art 
in  them,  but  for  their  cost  in  dollars.  A  lecturer  not 
long  ago  said  derisively  that  of  all  the  Athenians  who 
listened  with  rapt  attention  to  the  orations  of  De- 
mosthenes, probably  not  one  had  a  pin  or  a  button  for 
his  cloak.  It  would  be  a  curious  problem  to  weigh  a 
few  orations  of  Demosthenes  against  pins  and  but- 
tons. It  is  said  of  men  of  olden  time  that  they  con- 
spired to  build  themselves  up  into  heaven  by  using 
materials  of  earth,  and  began  to  erect  a  lofty  tower,  but 
the  Almighty,  seeing  the  futility  of  their  endeavor, 
thwarted  their  attempt  at  its  inception,  and  thus 
showed  that  men  could  never  ascend  to  the  heavens 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR,  jg 

by  any  material  means.     It  is  a  wonderful  invention, 
but  no  flying  machine  will  ever  give  wings  to  the 
spirit.    There  is  a  material  and  a  spiritual  side  to  the 
world,  and  the  spiritual  can  never  be  enhanced  by 
the  material.     The  lower  animals,  through  their  in- 
stincts, perform  material  feats  often  surpassing  the 
skill  of  man.     For  his  purpose  the  beaver  can  build  i 
a  better  dam  than  man ;  no  skill  of  man   can  make  I 
honey  for  the  bee.     That  which  distinguishes  man  is  , 
his  manhood,  his  thought,  his  ideals,  his  spirituality.  ' 
There  is  a  glory  of  the  present  and  a  glory  of  the  • 
past.    The  glory  of  the  past  was  its  literature,  its  art, 
its  examples  of  greatness.     Let  us  retain  the  glory 
of  the  ancient  civilization  and  add  to  it  the  marvel- 
lous scientific   and   practical  spirit  of   the  present. 
Then  shall  we  have  a  civilization  surpassing  any  pre- 
vious one.   Let  us  not  only  tunnel  our  mountains  for 
outlets  to    our  great  transcontinental   railway  sys- 
tems,  but    let    us   also   find   among  our   mountain 
ranges,  and  domes,  and  cafions,  some  sacred  grot- 
toes.    Let  us  not  only  explore  our  peaks  for  gold 
and  silver,  but  find   some  Parnassus,  sacred  to  the 
Muses,  whom  we  shall  learn  to  invoke  not  in  vain.      ^ 

Shall  we  venture  to  characterize  the  American 
student  of  the  near  future?  He  will  hardly  be  a 
recluse,  nor  will  he  wholly  neglect  the  body  for  the 
culture  of  the  mind.  He  will  be  a  man  of  the  world, 
a  man  of  business ;  on  the  one  hand,  not  disregard- 
ing the  uses  of  wealth,  and,  on  the  other,  not  finding 
material  possessions  and  sensuous  enjoyment  the 
better  part  of  life.  He  will  be  an  influence  in  poli- 
tics and  in  the  solution  of  all  social  problems.  His 
ideals  will  be  viewed  somewhat  in  the  light  of  their 


20  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

practicality.  H^  will  know  the  laws  of  mental  growth 
in  order  to  use  them,  and  will  find  the  avenues  of 
approach  to  men's  motives.  His  religion  will  add 
more  of  work  to  faith.  He  will  secure  a  high  growth 
of  self  by  regarding  the  welfare  of  others,  instead  of 
worshipping  exclusively  at  the  shrine  of  his  own  de- 
velopment. The  scientific  knowledge  of  nature's 
materials  and  forces,  and  the  skill  to  use  them,  will 
invite  a  large  class  of  minds.  In  brief,  the  coming 
student  will  take  on  more  of  the  traits  of  the  ideal 
man  of  affairs. 

But,  while  we  may  not  expect  a  revival  of  the 
almost  romantic  life  of  the  early  literary  clubs  of 
London,  there  will  be  many  a  group  devoted  to  the 
enjoyment  of  thought  and  beauty  in  Hterature.  If 
no  Socrates  shall  walk  the  streets  proclaiming  his 
wisdom  on  the  corners,  at  imminent  risk  from  cable 
cars  and  policemen,  there  will  be  a  philosophy,  dis- 
seminated through  the  press  of  the  coming  century, 
which  will  still  strive  to  reach  beyond  the  processes 
of  nature  to  the  unknown  cause,  will  reexamine 
those  conceptions  of  the  Absolute,  which  are  thought 
to  stand  the  test  when  applied  to  explain  the  prob- 
lems of  human  life.  If  no  Diogenes  shall  be  found 
with  his  lantern  at  noontide,  seeking,  as  it  were,  in  a 
microscopic  way,  the  honest  man  which  the  brilliant 
luminary  failed  to  reveal,  many  a  one,  living  cour- 
ageously his  principles  and  convictions,  will  endeavor 
by  precept  and  example  to  make  an  age  of  honest 
men  who  will  find  the  golden  rule  in  the  necessities 
of  human  intercourse,  as  well  as  in  the  concepts  of 
ethics  and  the  teaching  of  religion. 

The  student  owes  much  to  the  world.  The  ideal 
scholar  is  too  intelligent  to  be  prejudiced,  one-sided, 


HERITA  GE  OF  2WE  SCHULAJi.        J        2 1 

X^CALlFOHViiX 

or  superstitious.  He  should  avoM  tlitr'path  of  the 
poHtical  demagogue.  He  should  know  the  force  of 
ideas  and  the  value  of  ideals ;  he  should  be  too  wise 
to  fall  into  the  slough  of  pure  materialism. 

The  literature  of  the  future  will  not  try  the  bold, 
metaphorical  flights  of  Shakespeare,  but  there  will 
be  a  literature  that  will  show  the  poetry  of  the  new 
ideas.  Whatever  philosophy  finally  becomes  the 
prevalent  one,  there  are  certain  transcendental  con- 
ceptions, from  which  the  human  mind  cannot  escape, 
that  will  still  inspire  poetry.  There  must  always  be 
men  who  will  open  their  eyes  to  the  wonders  of  the 
world  and  of  human  existence — who  must  know  that 
any,  the  commonest,  substance  is  a  mystery,  the  key 
to  which  would  unlock  the  secrets  of  the  universe. 
The  beauty  of  the  starry  heavens  will  ever  be  tran- 
scendent ;  every  natural  scene  and  object  remains 
a  surpassing  work  of  art ;  life  is  filled  with  tragedy 
and  comedy,  and  the  possibihties  of  human  exist- 
ence are  as  sublime  as  the  eternal  heights  and  depths. 
Such  conceptions  beget  a  poetry  which  rises  to  a 
faith  above  reason  ;  that  instinctively  looks  upon  the 
fact  of  creation  and  of  existence  as  sublime  and  full 
of  promise,  and  clings  to  a  belief,  however  vague,  in 
the  ultimate  grand  outcome  for  the  individual.  The 
right  view  of  the  world  is  essentially  poetic,  and  the 
truest  poetry  includes  faith  and  reverence.  It  is  the 
privilege  of  the  earnest  and  profound  scholar  to 
know  that  literature  refines,  that  philosophy  ennobles, 
that  religion  purifies,  that  ideals  inspire,  and  that 
the  world  can  be  explained  in  its  highest  meaning 
only  by  the  conception  of  a  personal  God. 

Notwithstanding  its  practical  tendencies,  this  cen- 


22  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

tury  is  not  wanting  in  the  highest  literary  power.  It 
has  given  us  the  universal  insight  and  sympathy  of 
Goethe,  whose  writings  Carlyle  describes  as  *  A 
Thousand-voiced  Melody  of  Wisdom."  He  thus 
continues,  "  So  did  Goethe  catch  the  Music  of  the 
Universe,  and  unfold  it  into  clearness,  and,  in  au- 
thentic celestial  tones,  bring  it  home  to  the  hearts 
of  men." 

This  century  has  revealed  the  grandeur  of  meta- 
physical thought  through  Hegel,  and  found  a  won- 
derful expounder  of  science  in  Spencer.  Each  an 
exponent  of  a  great  philosophy,  both  giants  in  men- 
tal grasp,  they  greatly  influence  the  thought  of  the 
age,  and  become  co-workers  in  the  investigation  of 
many-sided  truth. 

Next  stands  Carlyle,  in  the  midst  of  this  mechani- 
cal and  seemingly  unpoetic  age,  and  proclaims  it  an 
age  of  romance  ;  in  inspired  words  teaches  the  beauty 
of  the  genuine,  the  sublimity  of  creation,  the  gran- 
deur of  human  Hfe.  Wordsworth,  Nature's  priest, 
interprets  her  forms  and  moods  with  finest  insight, 
and  finds  them  expressive  of  divine  thought.  He 
looks  quite  through  material  forms  and  feels 

"  A  sense  sublime 
Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused, 
"Whose  dwelling  is  the  light  of  setting  suns, 
And  the  round  ocean  and  the  living  air. 
And  the  blue  sky,  and  in  the  mind  of  man  : 
A  motion  and  a  spirit,  that  impels 
All  thinking  things,  all  objects  of  all  thought. 
And  rolls  through  all  things." 

Our  own  Emerson  to  this  generation  quaintly  says, 
"  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a  star,"  and  thousands  strive 
to  rise  superior  to  occupation,  rank,  and  habit  into 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR. 


23 


the  dignity  of  manhood — to  rise  above  the  clouds  of 
sorrow  and  disappointment,  and  bathe  in  the  pure 
sunlight.  The  spiritual  beauty  of  his  face,  the  calm 
dignity  of  his  life  will  live  in  the  memory  of  men 
and  add  to  the  force  of  his  writings. 
Longfellow  has  said, 

"  Look,  then,  into  thine  heart,  and  write." 

Every  aspiration,  every  care  and  sorrow,  every  mood 
and  sentiment,  finds  in  him  a  true  sympathy ;  he 
stands  foremost,  not  as  a  genius  of  the  intellect,  but 
as  a  genius  of  the  heart.  How  often  he  enters  our 
homes,  sits  at  our  firesides,  touches  the  sweetest, 
tenderest  chords  of  the  lyre,  awakens  the  purest 
aspirations  of  our  being. 

Then  comes  Dickens,  and  tells  us  that  fiction  may 
have  a  high  and  noble  mission ;  that  it  may  teach 
love,  benevolence,  and  charity ;  that  it  may  promote 
cheerfulness  and  contentment ;  that  it  may  expose 
injustice  and  defend  truth  and  right. 

All  these,  each  a  master  in  his  field,  are  powerful 
in  their  influence ;  but  beyond  this  fact  is  the  more 
significant  one  that  they  index  some  of  the  better 
tendencies  of  the  century.  Never  before  were  so 
many  fields  of  thought  represented  ;  never  did  any 
possess  masters  of  greater  skill.  We  may  hope  that, 
even  in  the  midst  of  this  period  of  material  prosperity, 
invention,  and  scientific  research,  the  spiritual  side  of 
man's  nature  will  ultimately  gain  new  strength,  and 
thought  a  deeper  insight. 

With  our  exact  thought  and  practical  energy,  is 
there  not  danger  of  losing  all  the  romance  which 
clothes  human   existence  with   beauty   and   hope? 


24  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

The  gods  are  banished  from  Olympus ;  Helicon  is  no 
longer  sacred  to  the  Muses ;  Egeria  has  dissolved 
into  a  fountain  of  tears ;  the  Dryads  have  fled  from  the 
sacred  oaks  ;  the  elves  no  longer  flit  in  the  sunbeams ; 
Odin  lies  buried  beneath  the  ruins  of  Walhalla; 
"  Pan  is  dead."  That  wealth  of  imagination  which 
characterized  the  Greek,  enabled  him  to  personify 
the  powers  that  rolled  in  the  flood  or  sighed  in  the 
breeze,  has  passed  away.  We  would  turn  Parnassus 
into  a  stone  quarry  and  hew  the  homes  of  the  Dryads 
into  merchantable  lumber.  The  spear  of  chivalry  is 
broken  in  the  lists  by  the  implements  of  the  mechanic, 
the  tourney  is  converted  into  a  fair.  Romance  is  for 
a  time  clouded  by  the  smoke  of  manufactories. 

But  a  seer  has  arisen,  who  finds  in  remotest  places 
and  in  humblest  life  the  essence  of  romance.  Carlyle 
is  our  true  poet  and  we  do  well  to  comprehend  his 
meaning.  To  his  mind  we  have  but  to  paint  the 
meanest  object  in  its  actual  truth  and  the  picture  is 
a  poem.  Romance  exists  in  reality.  "The  thing 
that  isy  what  can  be  so  wonderful?  **  "  In  our  own 
poor  Nineteenth  Century  ...  he  has  witnessed 
overhead  the  infinite  deep,  with  lesser  and  greater 
lights,  bright-rolling,  silent-beaming,  hurled  forth  by 
the  hand  of  God  ;  around  him  and  under  his  feet 
the  wonderfullest  earth,  with  her  winter  snow  storms 
and  summer  spice  airs,  and  (unaccountablest  of  all) 
himself  standing  there.  He  stood  in  the  lapse  of 
Time ;  he  saw  eternity  behind  him  and  before  him." 
I  cannot  lead  you  to  the  end  of  that  wonderful 
passage,  but  it  is  worth  the  devotion  of  solitude. 

We  have  left  the  superstitions  of  the  past,  but  the 
beauty  of  mythology  is  transmuted  into  the  glory 
of  truth.     In  the  valley  of   Chamounix,  Coleridge 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR.  25 

sang  for  us  a  grander  hymn  than  any  ancient  epic, 
Wordsworth  has  read  the  promise  of  immortaHty  in 
a  humble  flower,  science  reveals  to  us  the  sublimity 
of  creation.  Romance  has  not  passed  away  ;  if  we 
will  but  look  nature  becomes  transparent  and  we  see 
through  to  Nature's  God. 

Many  good  men  fear  the  results  of  independent 
thought  and  scientific  research,  but  such  fear  is  the 
outgrowth  of  narrow  views.  Every  pioneer  in  an 
unexplored  field  should  be  welcomed.  The  Darwins 
and  the  Spencers  are  doing  a  grand  work.  Only  the 
widest  investigation  can  possibly  affirm  the  truth  of 
any  belief.  Let  men  doubt  their  instincts  and  go 
forth  to  seek  a  foundation  for  truth.  Let  them 
trace  the  evolution  of  organized  being  from  the 
simplest  elements.  Let  them  resolve  the  sun  and 
planets  and  all  the  v/onderful  manifestations  of  force 
into  nebulae  and  heat.  Let  investigation  seek  every 
nook  and  corner  penetrable  by  human  knowledge. 
All  this  will  but  show  the  processes  and  the  wonders 
of  creation  without  revealing  the  cause  or  end. 

The  intellect  of  man,  for  a  time  divorced  from  the 
warm  instincts  of  his  being,  sent  forth  into  chill  and 
rayless  regions  of  discovery,  having  performed  its 
mission,  will  return  and  speak  to  the  human  soul  in 
startling,  welcome  accents :  Far  and  wide  I  have 
sought  a  basis  for  truth  and  found  it  not.  Any  phi- 
losophy that  recognizes  no  God  is  false.  Search  your 
inner  consciousness.  You  are  yourself  God's  highest 
expression  of  truth.  You  see  beauty  in  the  flower, 
glory  in  the  heavens.  You  have  human  love  and  sym- 
pathy, divine  aspirations.  Life  to  you  is  nothing 
without  aim  and  hope.     Trust  your  higher  instincts. 


26  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

The  ancient  Romans  read  omens  in  the  flight  of 
birds,  and  ordered  great  events  by  these  supposed 
revelations  of  the  deities.  In  our  day,  a  Bryant  has 
watched  by  fountain  and  grove  for  the  revelations  of 
God,  and  has  read  in  the  flight  of  a  "  Waterfowl  "  a 
deeper  augury  than  any  ancient  priest,  for  it  relates 
not  to  political  events,  but  to  an  eternal  truth,  im- 
planted in  the  breast  and  confirming  the  hope  of 
man. 

' '  There  is  a  power  whose  care 

Teaches  thy  way  along  that  pathless  coast — 
The  desert  and  illimitable  air — 
Lone  wandering  but  not  lost. 

*'  Thou'rt  gone,  the  abyss  of  Heaven 

Hath  swallowed  up  thy  form  ;  yet  on  my  heart 
Deeply  has  sunk  the  lesson  thou  hast  given. 
And  shall  not  soon  depart. 

"  He  who,  from  zone  to  zone, 

Guides  through  the  boundless  sky  thy  certain  flight. 
In  the  long  way  that  I  must  tread  alone. 
Will  lead  my  steps  aright." 

The  student  is  asked  to  take  a  view  from  the 
height  to  which  he  has  already  attained,  and  catch 
a  glimpse  here  and  there  of  the  world,  of  history,  and 
of  the  meaning  of  human  life.  The  fuller  significance 
of  what  appears  in  the  fair  field  of  learning  will  come 
with  maturer  years.  It  is  not  enough  for  the 
student  to  enjoy  selfishly  his  knowledge  and  power ; 
he  should  be  a  mediator  between  his  capabilities  and 
his  opportunities.  It  is  one  thing  to  have  power, 
another  to  use  it.  The  mighty  engine  may  have 
within  it  the  potency  of  great  work,  but  it  may  stand 
idle  forever  unless  the  proper  means  are  employed  to 
utilize  it.     Let  the  student  convert  his  power  into 


V 


HERITAGE   OF   THE   SCHOLAR. 


27 


active  energy,  and  study  the  best  ways  of  making  it 
tell  for  the  highest  usefulness.  Education  but  pre- 
pares to  enter  the  great  school  of  life,  and  that 
school  should  be  a  means  of  continuous  develop- 
ment towards  greater  power  and  higher  character, 
and  knowledge  and  usefulness.  Progress  is  the  con- 
dition of  life  ;  to  stand  still  is  to  decay.  One  with  a 
progressive  spirit  gains  a  little  day  by  day  and  year 
by  year,  and  in  the  sum  of  years  there  will  be  a  large 
aggregate.  Employ  well  the  differentials  of  time, 
then  integrate,  and  what  is  the  result  ? 

An  old  and  honored  college  instructor  was  accus- 
tomed to  say,  "  Education  is  valuable,  but  good 
character  is  indispensable,"  and  the  force  of  this 
truth  grows  upon  me  with  every  year  of  experience. 
I  well  remember  a  sermon  by  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
upon  the  theme  "  Upbuilding,"  in  which  he  spent 
two  hours  in  an  earnest  and  eloquent  appeal,  espe- 
cially to  the  young,  to  thrust  down  the  lower  nature 
and  cultivate  the  nobler  instincts,  and  thus  evolve  to 
higher  planes. 

Happy  is  he  who  can  keep  the  buoyancy  and 
freshness  and  hope  of  early  years.  The  "  vision 
splendid,"  which  appears  to  the  eye  of  youth,  too 
often  may  "  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day." 
Too  often  Wordsworth's  lines  become  a  prophecy, 
but  let  them  be  a  warning  : 

"  Full  soon  thy  soul  shall  have  her  earthly  freight, 
And  custom  lie  upon  thee  with  a  weight, 
Heavy  as  frost,  and  deep  almost  as  life. " 

Age  should  be  the  time  of  rich  fruition.  Not  long 
since  the  Rev.  William  R.  Alger,  on  his  visit  to  Den- 
ver, after  an  absence  of  a  dozen  years,  addressed  a 


28  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

congregation  of  his  old  friends,  and  among  other 
things  he  spoke  of  his  impressions  when  he  first  ap- 
proached these  grand  mountains.  It  was  at  set  of 
sun,  and,  as  he  looked  away  over  the  plains,  he  be- 
held on  an  elevation  a  thousand  cattle,  and  in  the 
glory  of  the  departing  day  they  seemed  to  him  like 
*'  golden  cattle  pasturing  in  the  azure  and  feeding  on 
the  blue."  Upon  his  last  visit  he  again  approached 
these  scenes  at  the  close  of  day,  and  his  impressions 
were  as  vivid  as  in  earlier  years ;  his  enjoyment  in 
life  was  deeper,  his  faith  was  stronger,  and  his  hope 
brighter.  There  is  no  need  to  grow  old  in  spirit ;  it 
is  only  the  dead  soul  that  wholly  loses  the  hope  and 
the  joy  of  youth. 

There  are  three  grand  categories,  not  always  under- 
stood by  those  who  carelessly  name  them — the  True, 
Hhe  Beautiful,  and   the  Good.     May  the   thoughts 
and  deeds  which  give  character  to  life  be  such  as  to 
fall  within  this  trinity  of  perfect  ideals. 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY  OF  EDUCATION 
AND  LIFE. 

It  is  the  calm  judgment  of  history  that,  in  artistic, 
literary,  and  philosophical  development,  the  world 
shows,  relatively,  nothing  comparable  to  the  Golden 
Age  of  Greece.  Attica  was  the  Shakespeare  of  the 
Ancient  World.  As  the  Bard  of  Avon  gathered  the 
material  of  legend,  romance,  and  history,  and  crowned 
the  intellectual  activity  of  the  Elizabethan  Age  with 
results  of  enduring  value,  so  the  leading  city  of  Greece 
centred  in  herself  many  influences  of  the  Orient,  and, 
in  a  period  of  great  intellectual  awakening  under  fa- 
vorable conditions,  became  the  genius  that  produced 
results  of  surpassing  power  and  beauty.  The  Greeks 
created  when  European  civilization  was  young,  and 
as  yet  there  was  little  of  the  ideal  that,  in  the  Attic 
Period,  blossomed  into  the  conceptions  of  the  True, 
the  Beautiful,  and  the  Good. 

In  any  other  period  never  has  so  great  a  master  as 
Socrates  found  so  great  a  pupil  as  Plato ;  never  has 
so  great  a  master  as  Plato  encountered  so  great  a 
pupil  as  Aristotle.  Each  pupil  grasped  and  enlarged 
upon  the  mighty  work  of  his  instructor. 

The  world  still  wonders  how  any  age  could  be- 
come so  suddenly  and  highly  creative.  Like  the 
century  plant,  the  Greek  race  seemed  to  have  been 
accumulating,  through  a  long  period,  power  for  a 
quick  and  startling  development.     The   thoughtful 


30 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


historian  enumerates  many  favoring  conditions.  The 
Greeks  as  a  race  were  active,  eager  for  knowledge, 
and  had  a  capacity  for  healthy  ideal  conceptions. 
The  beneficent  climate  brought  them  in  contact  with 
nature,  and  the  peculiar  charm  of  their  sky,  air, 
mountains,  and  sea  filled  them  with  a  sense  of  wonder 
and  a  sense  of  beauty.  We  may  also  mention  the 
stimulus  of  their  intercourse  with  their  own  colonies 
and  with  other  peoples ;  their  religion,  which  con- 
tained the  germs  of  ethical  and  philosophical  thought, 
and  was  favorable  to  freedom  of  view ;  the  respect 
for  law  that  sought  for  the  rules  of  the  state  and 
for  individual  conduct  a  foundation  in  permanent 
principles. 

Socrates  is  a  more  favorite  theme  than  Plato,  partly 
because  he  is  the  first  of  the  three  heroic  figures  that 
mark  the  beginning  of  philosophy.  Then  his  name 
is  surrounded  with  a  halo  that  was  constituted  by  the 
events  of  Athens'  greatest  period  of  fame.  He  lived 
just  after  the  glory  of  victory  over  the  Persian  inva- 
ders had  stimulated  the  Greek  pride  and  every  ac- 
tivity that  is  born  of  pride  and  hope.  He  lived  in  the 
period  of  Athenian  supremacy  and  was  contemporary 
with  Phidias,  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Aristophanes, 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  Pericles. 

Plato,  on  the  contrary,  beheld  the  beginning  of  the 
misfortunes  of  Attica  and  of  the  decay  of  Greece. 
It  was  the  period  of  the  Peloponnesian  Wars,  of  the 
Spartan  and  the  Theban  Supremacy.  It  was  the  time 
of  the  Thirty  Tyrants  and  of  the  restored  Democracy. 
But  while  the  time  of  Plato  was  not  that  of  the 
greatest  national  glory,  it  permitted  the  free  develop- 
ment of  philosophical  thought  which  later  culminated 
in  Aristotle. 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY.  3 1 

Socrates,  with  earnestness  of  soul,  with  contempt 
for  the  extreme  democratic  spirit  of  his  time  and  the 
growing  disregard  of  divine  and  human  law,  with 
contempt  for  the  Sophists,  whose  teachings  were  no 
higher  than  prudential  preparation  for  practical  life 
and  cultivation  of  the  morals  and  manners  of  a  Lord 
Chesterfield,  devoted  himself  to  exposing  the  igno- 
rance and  false  reasoning  of  the  day  and  to  the  search 
for  truth,  setting  up  for  his  ideal  the  Supreme  Good 
which  included  the  True  and  the  Beautiful.  He, 
however,  was  practical  in  that  he  taught  that  all  good 
was  good  for  something ;  whatever  was  ideal  was  to 
be  applied  in  real  life,  and  he  was  a  notable  example 
of  closely  following  ideals  with  practical  action. 
"  Know  thyself "  was  his  maxim,  and,  in  knowing 
thyself,  know  the  good  and  follow  it. 

Socrates  is  the  practical  man,  Plato  the  idealist  and 
literary  man,  Aristotle  the  scientific  man.  Socrates 
left  us  no  writings,  and,  while  Plato  in  his  works  uses 
Socrates  as  his  chief  interlocutor,  the  dialogues  are 
to  be  regarded  as  expressing  Socrates'  philosophy  as 
changed  and  enlarged  by  the  views  of  Plato.  Xeno- 
phon's  "'  Memorabilia"  is  the  source  of  more  nearly 
accurate  views  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  Socrates. 

Plato  uses  Socrates'  method  of  induction  and  exact 
definition  to  reach  the  truth  aimed  at.  Many  of  the 
scenes  are  like  plays,  some  of  which  would  take  on  a 
stage  setting,  with  characters  that  are  very  much  alive 
and  very  human.  Although  in  pursuit  of  the  most  seri- 
ous subjects,  a  dramatic  tone  runs  through  the  discus- 
sions. In  the  first  book  of  the  "  Republic,"  Thrasym- 
achus  in  argument  gets  angry,  grows  red  in  the  face, 
and  fairly  roars  his  views  at  Socrates,  who  pretends  to 
be  panic-stricken  at  his  looks.     Later  Thrasymachus 


32  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

asks,  **  I  want  to  know,  Socrates,  whether  you  have  a 
nurse."  To  Socrates*  look  of  astonished  inquiry  he 
more  than  intimates  that  the  philosopher  is  too 
childish  to  go  about  unattended.  Many  of  the  dia- 
logues are  in  part  historical  facts.  The  characters  are 
the  neighbors  and  friends  or  intellectual  antagonists 
of  the  philosopher.  The  doctrines  he  combats  are 
doctrines  of  the  day,  the  scenes  are  real  and  in  or 
about  Athens.  The  tyranny  he  hates  and  the  ex- 
treme democracy  he  satirizes  are  forms  of  government 
whose  evils  he  has  observed,  and  from  which  he  has 
suffered.  You  read  the  dialogues,  follow  their 
thought,  get  into  their  spirit,  and  you  are  brought  in 
touch  with  the  great,  throbbing  life  of  the  Athenian 
commonwealth.  A  few  dialogues,  carefully  read,  are 
worth  a  hundred  volumes  of  the  commentators. 

It  is  related  that  at  a  certain  time  Socrates  dreamed 
he  saw  a  young  swan  perched  on  his  knee.  Soon  it 
gained  strength  of  wing  and  flew  away,  singing  a  sweet 
song.  The  next  day  Plato  appeared  and  became  the 
intimate  pupil  of  Socrates.  This  is  one  of  many 
myths,  later  invented  to  enlarge  the  halo  of  a  great 
name.  It  was  said  that  Plato  was  the  son  of  Apollo 
and  that  the  bees  of  Hymettus  fed  him  with  honey, 
giving  him  the  power  of  sweet  speech.  Myths  aside, 
the  chance  that  made  Plato  the  intimate  friend  and 
disciple  of  Socrates  became  of  vast  significance  to 
the  future  history  of  philosophy.  Plato  was  of  aristo- 
cratic parentage ;  he  showed  in  his  youth  a  poetic 
temperament,  which  was  later  displayed  in  the  dra- 
matic art  of  his  writings.  After  the  death  of  Socrates 
in  399  B.  C,  he  travelled  and  resided  at  various  courts. 
At  the  age  of  forty  he  returned  to  Athens  and  opened 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY. 


33 


his  school  in  the  Gymnasium  of  the  Academy,  where 
with  one  or  two  intervals  he  taught  for  a  period  of 
forty  years.  Aristotle  was  for  twenty  years  his  pupil, 
and  there  are  many  interesting  accounts  of  the  rela- 
tion between  pupil  and  master. 

Plato  had  in  him  somewhat  of  the  Puritan,  while 
Aristotle  was  more  a  man  of  the  world,  and  we  may 
suppose  that  he  often  maintained  his  opinions  with 
his  customary  sarcastic  smile.  He  offended  the  more 
austere  tastes  of  his  master  by  nicety  of  dress,  care  of 
his  shoes,  display  of  finger  rings,  and  a  dudish  cut  of  his 
hair.  Contemporaries  speak  of  Plato  with  admiration 
for  his  intellect  and  reverence  for  the  beauty  of  his 
character,  which  was  "  elevated  in  Olympian  cheerful- 
ness above  the  world  of  change  and  decay." 

In  our  purpose  to  touch  upon  some  points  of 
Plato's  doctrines,  we  are  treating  of  a  transcendent 
genius  whose  work  has  profoundly  affected  the 
thought  of  the  world.  Platonism  reappears  as  Neo- 
Platonism  in  the  second  and  third  centuries  of  our 
era;  is  largely  adopted  in  its  new  form  a  century 
later  by  St.  Augustine,  the  great  expounder  of  Chris- 
tianity and  teacher  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  arises  again 
in  the  seventeenth  century  proclaiming  that  moral 
law  is  written  in  fixed  characters  in  every  rational 
mind ;  culminates  in  the  grand  idealism  of  SchelHng 
and  Hegel ;  is  transmitted  to-day  in  the  magnificent 
idealistic  ethics  of  such  men  as  Caird,  Green,  and 
Bradley ;  gives  the  cardinal  virtues  to  Christianity ; 
furnishes  a  broad  and  inspiring  ethical  code  for  the 
present ;  speaks  with  an  inspiration  that  largely  meets 
the  approval  of  the  Christian  world ;  inspired  the 
Utopia  and  the  New  Atlantis  and  all  ideal  schemes 
of  government  and  society  ;  was,  following  Socrates, 
3 


34 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


the  father  of  the  inductive  method ;  became  the 
starting  point  for  the  scientific  study  of  nature  and 
psychology  in  the  eleventh  century ;  was  a  large  ele- 
ment in  the  humanistic  movement,  which  at  the  close 
of  the  middle  ages  created  modern  natural  science ; 
created  conceptions  which,  developing  down  through 
the  centuries  in  two  diverging  lines,  indirectly  found 
highest  expression  in  the  idealism  of  Hegel  and  the 
evolution  of  Spencer,  and  is  likely  to  furnish  in  broad 
outlines,  especially  as  presented  by  Aristotle,  ground 
for  the  reconciliation  of  the  opposite  poles  of  philoso- 
phy in  a  spiritual  evolution. 

•  What  was  Plato's  central  idea  ?  It  was  the  exist- 
ence of  fixed  principles  in  the  universe,  principles 
realized  in  the  consciousness  of  man,  through  pur- 
suit of  knowledge.  Socrates  aimed  at  a  permanent 
ground  for  ethical  wisdom  in  a  time  when  the  old 
foundations  of  conduct  and  of  divine  and  human 
law  were  shaken.  He  was  the  progenitor  of  the  in- 
ductive method,  in  that  he  sought  in  numerous  in- 
stances and  opinions  the  essential  common  ground 
or  principle,  and  aimed  at  exact  definition.  The 
class  concept,  general  notion,  universal  truth,  was 
the  object  of  his  search.  And  we  find  him,  for  in- 
stance, in  Plato,  tracing  through  the  ten  books  of  the 
"  Republic  "  the  essential  character  of  justice.  Plato, 
following  Socrates,  sought  a  foundation  for  ethical 
conceptions  in  a  metaphysical  theory,  the  Doctrine 
of  Ideas,  a  magnificent  illustration  of  the  truth  that 
speculative  philosophy  grows  out  of  man's  earnest 
desire  to  know  why  he  is  here,  and  what  is  the  mean- 
ing of  his  moral  nature. 

It  will  help  much  any  view  in  the  field  of  philoso- 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY. 


35 


phy  to  keep  uppermost  the  thought  of  distinct 
classes,  types,  or  kinds  of  things  in  nature ;  the 
thought  of  the  corresponding  class  concepts,  general 
notions  or  universals  in  the  human  mind ;  and  the 
thought  of  original  ideas  in  the  mind  of  God,  as  con- 
stituting principles  or  laws  or  modes  of  action  in 
nature.  This  is  not  a  world  of  chaotic  chance,  it  is  a 
world  of  rational  and  progressive  order,  and  we  are 
compelled  to  seek  for  the  architecture  an  architect 
and  a  plan  embodying  rational  ideas.  Plato's  ideas 
are  eternal  entities  existing  neither  in  nature  nor  in 
the  mind  of  God,  but  nevertheless  the  archetypes, 
forms,  or  patterns  after  which  every  kind  of  things  to 
which  may  be  applied  a  common  name  was  fashioned. 
Plato  here  held  in  an  imperfect  way  the  mighty  truth 
of  all  philosophy,  and  the  *'  Ideas  "  have  reappeared  in 
many  guises, — as  the  forms  or  essences  of  Aristotle, 
existing  only  as  realized  in  nature,  as  ideas  in  the 
mind  of  God,  as  the  self-evolving  categories  of  Hegel, 
as  the  perfecting  principle  and  the  fashioning  laws  in 
the  doctrine  of  evolution. 

Man  in  his  preexistent  state  dwelt  in  the  region  of 
immaterial  ideas  and  gazed  on  the  fulness  of  their 
truth.  At  his  human  birth  he  was  made  oblivious 
of  his  past  existence,  and  growth  in  wisdom  was  a 
gradual  realization  in  the  consciousness  of  the  eternal 
verities  formerly  known.  As  in  Wordsworth,  man's 
birth  was  but  a  ^*  sleep  and  a  forgetting;  "  growth  in 
knowledge  was  a  remembering.  "  Trailing  clouds  of 
glory  do  we  come  from  God,  who  is  our  home."  The 
truth  in  this  metaphor  of  philosophy,  we  may  believe, 
is  that  man  is  of  divine  origin,  and  hence  may  know 
the  divine  revelations  in  his  own  being  and  in  the 
material  world.     Here  was  foreshadowed  in  rough 


36  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

outlines  the  spiritual  idealism  which  in  its  fresh  form 
appears  to  be  gaining  new  ground  to-day.  God 
writes  the  book  of  nature ;  man  is  the  son  of  God 
and  reads  and  vaguely  understands  the  meaning  of 
the  mighty  volume. 

Sensations  are  not  knowledge,  but  the  signs  of 
knowledge,  as  words  are  the  signs  of  thought,  and 
the  mind  is  innately  active  and  rational,  else  there 
could  be  no  interpretation  of  those  signs.  This  ap- 
pears to  be  the  true  explanation  of  the  fact  that  we 
are  educated  by  contact  with  nature.  Without  the 
signs,  no  communication  of  knowledge  ;  without  the 
native  power  of  the  reader,  no  reception  of  knowl- 
edge. 

Plato  held  that  the  ideas  were  manifest  in  nature 
and  were  also  innate  in  the  mind  ;  hence  by  self- 
examination  and  comparison  with  the  copies  of  the 
ideas  in  nature,  man  arrived  at  essential  truth  which 
was  the  work  of  philosophy. 

Plato  identified  the  Idea  of  Ideas  with  Cause,  Mind, 
the  Good  or  God.  God  was  a  personality  and  su- 
preme above  the  gods.  He  was  named  by  his  chief 
attribute,  the  Good,  and  of  this  the  True  and  the 
Beautiful  were  qualities.  Cousin  says,  "  The  True, 
the  Beautiful,  and  the  Good  are  only  revelations  of 
the  same  Being;  that  which  reveals  them  to  us  is 
reason."  "  If  all  perfection  belongs  to  the  perfect 
being,  God  will  possess  beauty  in  its  plenitude.  The 
father  of  the  world,  of  its  laws,  of  its  ravishing 
harmonies,  the  author  of  forms,  colors,  and  sounds, 
he  is  the  principle  of  beauty  in  nature.  It  is  he 
whom  we  adore  without  knowing  it,  under  the 
name  of  the  ideal,  when  our  imagination,  borne  on 
from  beauties  to  beauties,  calls   for  a  final  beauty 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY. 


37 


in  which  it  may  find  repose."  This  passage  is 
thoroughly  Platonic  in  spirit  and  throws  much 
light  on  the  meaning  of  these  absolute  ideas  of 
Plato.  With  change  of  terms  the  same  passage 
would  apply  to  Truth  and  Goodness.  We  trace 
them  as  they  appear  in  the  conscious  reason  and 
disposition,  as  they  are  manifested  in  the  relations 
of  society  or  are  suggested  by  the  reality  and  benefi- 
cence of  the  world,  and  we  are  led  to  the  concep- 
tion of  the  perfect  ideals  whose  truth  exists  in  God. 

Plato  has  four  principles  whose  interrelation  and 
process  of  the  active  elements  determine  the  world, 
as  the  laws  of  modern  evolution  are  conceived  to 
work  out  the  results  discovered  by  science :  (i)  un- 
limited, unformed,  or  chaotic  nature;  (2)  law,  im- 
posing limits  and  forms  upon  nature ;  (3)  the  result- 
ing, definite  types  and  ideas  of  a  rational  world ;  (4) 
the  Cause  which  effects  these  results. 

The  Good  is  that  which  imparts  truth  to  the  ob- 
ject and  knowledge  to  the  perceiving  subject,  and  is 
the  cause  of  science  and  truth ;  hence,  to  know  the 
Good  is  the  ethical  aim,  for  to  know  the  Good  is  to 
act  in  harmony  with  it,  and  knowledge  is  virtue. 

Plato  was  fully  aware  that  the  philosopher,  then 
as  to-day,  was  regarded  by  the  many  as  a  useless 
star-gazer,  and  in  the  celebrated  Allegory  of  the  Cave 
he  shows  the  relation  of  true  insight  to  the  common 
view  of  life  and  the  world.  He  imagines  dwellers  in 
a  cave  so  placed  that  they  see  only  the  shadows  of 
passing  objects  and  hear  only  the  echoes  of  sounds 
from  the  outer  world.  If  released  and  brought  to 
the  full  light  of  the  sun  they  are  dazzled  and  pained, 
and  think  they  are  in  a  world  of  false  appearance, 
and  believe  the  realities  are  the  familiar  shadows  in 


^  or   THH  ' 

UNIVERSITY 


38  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

the  cave.  After  a  while  they  become  accustomed  to 
the  day  and  the  real  objects,  and  see  their  truth  and 
beauty.  And  if  they  return  to  the  cave,  they  are 
half  blind  and  appear  ridiculous  to  the  dwellers 
there.  He  concludes,  "  Whether  I  am  right  or  not, 
God  only  knows;  but,  whether  true  or  false,  my 
opinion  is  that  in  the  world  of  knowledge  the  idea 
of  good  appears  last  of  all,  and  is  seen  only  with  an 
effort ;  and,  when  seen,  is  also  inferred  to  be  the 
universal  author  of  all  things  beautiful  and  right, 
parent  of  light  and  lord  of  light  in  this  world,  and 
the  source  of  truth  and  reason  in  the  other :  this  is 
the  first  great  cause  which  he,  who  would  act  ration- 
ally either  in  public  or  private  life,  must  behold." 

To  the  Sophist,  who  follows  the  opinion  of  the 
many  instead  of  regarding  fixed  principles  of  truth,  he 
pays  his  respects  with  the  searching  satire  of  a  Carlyle. 

His  theology,  which  is  a  part  of  his  philosophy, 
has  many  striking  features  that  have  commanded  the 
astonishment  of  the  Christian  world.  *'  God  the 
Creator  changes  not ;  He  deceives  not."  It  is  wrong 
to  do  good  to  friends  and  injure  enemies,  for  the  in- 
jury of  another  can  be  in  no  case  just.  If  you  have 
a  quarrel  with  any  one,  become  reconciled  before 
you  sleep.  In  heaven  is  the  pattern  of  the  perfect 
city.  All  things  will  work  together  for  good  to  the 
just.  He  advocates  the  severest  abstract  piety  that, 
as  in  the  conduct  of  the  sternest  Roman  or  the  se- 
verest Puritan,  swerves  not  from  duty.  The  myth 
of  Er,  the  Armenian,  reminds  us  in  many  points  of 
the  judgment  day ;  and  his  exhortation  to  pursue 
the  heavenly  way  that  it  may  be  well  with  us  here 
and  hereafter,  may  be  our  salvation  if  we  are  obedi- 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY. 


39 


ent,  is  one  of   the  most  striking  in  the  history  of 
religious  belief. 

In  the  fifth  book  of  the  *'  Laws  "  is  an  exhortation 
to  right  living  that  partakes  of  the  spirit  of  the  Chris- 
tian philosophy.  Every  man  is  to  honor  his  own 
soul  with  an  honor  that  regards  divine  good,  to  value 
principle  higher  than  life,  to  place  virtue  above  all 
gold,  to  glory  in  following  the  better  course,  to  count 
reverence  in  children  a  greater  heritage  than  riches, 
to  regard  a  contract  as  a  holy  thing,  to  avoid  excess 
of  self-love  and  to  adhere  to  the  truth  as  the  begin- 
ning of  every  good.  We  need  no  further  illustration 
of  the  fact  that  Platonism  was  naturally  welcomed 
by  the  early  Christian  Church. 

The  ethical  ideals  of  Plato  are  the  most  valuable 
phase  of  his  writings.  In  the  First  Book  of  the 
*'  Republic,"  Thrasymachus,  in  a  dialogue  with  Soc- 
rates, defines  justice  to  be  Sublime  Simplicityy  and 
argues  that  the  unjust  are  discreet  and  wise,  as  some 
may  argue  to-day  that  shrewd  dishonesty  is  com- 
mendable. The  ethics  of  Plato  is  the  opposite  pole 
of  this  philosophy,  and  as  such  stands  for  the  ra- 
tional and  moral  order  of  the  world.  His  system  is 
not  hedonistic,  but  ideal.  It  aims  at  a  good,  but  the 
good  is  attained  by  a  life  of  virtue. 

In  a  famous  passage  of  the  "  Republic,"  the  tran- 
scendently  just  man  is  described.  He  is  to  be  clothed 
in  justice  only.  Being  the  best  of  men,  he  is  to  be 
esteemed  the  worst,  and  so  continue  to  the  hour  of 
his  death.  He  is  to  be  bound,  scourged,  and  suffer 
every  kind  of  evil,  and  even  be  crucified ;  still  he  is  to 
be  just  for  righteousness'  sake.  No  wonder  some 
Christian  fathers  believed  this  referred  to  Him  who 


40  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

was  to  come,  as  described  in  the  celebrated  chapter 
of  Isaiah.  The  best  man  is  also  the  happiest, 
whether  seen  or  unseen  by  gods  and  men.  In  the 
"  Crito  "  Socrates  will  not  escape  from  prison  if  it  is  not 
right,  though  he  suffer  death  or  any  other  calamity. 
"  Virtue  is  the  health  and  beauty  and  well-being  of 
the  soul,  and  vice  is  the  disease  and  weakness  and 
deformity  of  the  soul."  He  is  a  fool  who  laughs 
at  aught  but  folly  and  vice.  The  possession  of  the 
whole  world  is  of  no  value  without  the  good.  No 
pleasure  except  that  of  the  wise  is  quite  true  and 
pure.  "  Is  not  the  noble  that  which  subjects  the 
beast  to  the  man,  or  rather  to  the  god  in  man?" 
"  How  would  a  man  profit  if  he  received  gold  and 
silver  on  the  condition  that  he  was  to  enslave  the 
noblest  part  of  him  to  the  worst  ?  "  "The  Holy  is 
loved  of  God  because  it  is  Holy."  Not  pleasure,  but 
wisdom  and  knowledge  and  right  opinions  and  true 
reasonings  are  better,  both  now  and  forever.  The 
good  ruler  considers  not  his  own  interest,  but  that  of 
the  state.  The  governing  class  are  to  be  told  that 
gold  and  silver  they  have  from  God ;  the  divine 
metal  is  in  them. 

Any  one  who  finds  in  these  views  a  doctrine  of 
pleasure  must  seek  with  a  prejudiced  eye.  Plato,  as 
usual,  anticipates  later  ethical  discussions,  and  points 
to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  quality  in  pleasure ;  and 
quality  in  conduct  is  the  very  contention  of  absolute 
moralists.  He  speaks  of  the  soul  whose  dye  of  good 
quality  is  washed  out  by  pleasure.  The  attainment 
of  genuine  well-being,  the  development  of  divine 
qualities  within  men,  was  the  aim,  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  this  priceless  possession  of  rational  manhood 
was  the  incidental  reward.     His  doctrine  places  be- 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY,  4I 

fore  men  abstract  ideals  of  Truth,  Beauty,  and  Good- 
ness, which  invite  the  better  nature  by  their  supreme 
excellence. 

Plato  enumerates  four  virtues :  Wisdom,  Courage, 
Temperance,  Justice.  Professor  Green  interprets 
them  in  modern  form,  and  maintains  their  fixed 
standard  of  excellence  and  universal  application. 
Any  modern  analysis  of  the  principles  of  conduct 
which  contribute  to  health  of  soul  and  are  favorable 
to  success  in  life,  would  confirm  the  enumeration  of 
the  Greek  virtues.  Professor  Green  says :  The  Good 
Will  is  the  will  (i)  to  know  what  is  true  and  to  make 
what  is  beautiful ;  (2)  to  endure  pain  and  fear ;  (3)  to 
resist  the  allurements  of  pleasure ;  (4)  to  take  for 
one's  self  and  to  give  to  others,  not  what  one  is  in- 
clined to,  but  what  is  due.  Not  only  does  he  enjoin 
the  spirit  of  justice,  but  the  cultivation  of  moral 
courage,  and,  as  contrasted  with  lazy  ignorance,  the 
growth  in  wisdom  which  is  realization  of  virtue. 

Wisdom  played  a  peculiar  and  important  part  in 
the  Greek  ethics.  Vice  was  ignorance,  because  the 
wise  man  could  but  live  according  to  his  best  knowl- 
edge. And  the  Greeks,  properly  interpreted,  were 
right.  Did  we  see  virtue  in  all  its  truth  and  beauty, 
and  vice  in  all  its  deformity,  we  could  but  choose 
the  best.  Growth  in  wisdom  was  a  gradual  realiza- 
tion in  the  soul  of  the  heavenly  ideas  that  were  the 
true  heritage  of  man,  and  in  this  development  the 
soul  was  gradually  perfected.  This  beautiful  and 
satisfying  philosophy  reappears  to-day  in  some  of 
the  most  ennobling  systems  of  ethics  the  world  has 
produced.  It  makes  individual  and  race  progress  an 
increase  in  consciousness  of  the  knowledge  of  truth 
and  virtue,  a  revelation  of  the  divine  within  us. 


42  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

The  Jewish  and  the  Christian  conception  of  divine 
law  as  binding  man  to  the  performance  of  his  moral 
obligations  was  not  strongly  characteristic  of  the 
Greek  mind.  But  responsibility,  without  which  con- 
duct can  have  no  ethical  significance,  was  by  no 
means  foreign  to  Plato's  system.  In  the  myth  of 
Er  the  soul  has  its  choice  of  the  lot  of  life,  and  its 
condition  at  the  end  of  the  earthly  career  is  a  re- 
quital for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  Throughout 
Plato's  writings  the  implications  of  personal  merit  or 
guilt  are  prominent. 

It  is  a  doctrine  of  virtue  rather  than  of  duty.  He 
who  sees  the  right  and  does  not  do  it  is  a  fool,  but 
that  is  his  matter.  He  is  not  bound  by  any  moral 
law  to  be  wise.  If  he  is  virtuous  it  is  well ;  if  not,  so 
much  the  worse  for  him.  Love  of  God  is  the  essen- 
tial of  the  Christian  ethics ;  knowledge  of  the  Good, 
of  the  Greek.  To  pursue  the  Good  was  virtue,  and 
virtue  he  sets  forth  in  world-wide  contrast  with  vice. 
Plato's  conception  of  justice,  or  right,  was  so  exalted 
that  some  have  thought  he  attained  in  later  years 
an  insight  into  the  nature  of  conscience,  or  the  Moral 
Faculty. 

The  Greek  idea  of  beauty  must  be  touched  in 
passing.  The  wise  life  was  a  beautiful  life.  The 
Beautiful  was  an  attribute  of  the  Deity.  They  had 
the  love  of  Beauty  which  Goethe  possessed  when  he 
had  become  fascinated  with  the  study  of  Greek  art, 
and  exclaimed,  "  The  Beautiful  is  greater  than  the 
Good,  for  it  includes  the  Good,  and  adds  something 
to  it."  Plato  calls  the  Beautiful  the  splendor  of  the 
True,  The  youth  should  learn  to  love  beautiful 
forms,  first  a  single  form,  then  all  beautiful  forms 
and  beauty  wherever  found ;   then  he  will  turn  to 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY.  43 

beauty  of  mind,  of  institutions  and  laws,  and  sci- 
ences, and  he  will  gradually  draw  toward  the  great 
sea  of  beauty,  and  create  and  contemplate  many  fair 
thoughts,  and  he  will  become  conscious  of  absolute 
beauty,  and  come  near  to  God,  who  is  transcendent 
beauty  and  goodness. 

Plato's  philosophy  makes  education  a  process  of 
developing  the  power  and  knowledge  latent  in  the 
mind,  rather  than  a  process  of  teaching.     The  So- 
cratic  method  of  drawing  out  is  one  of  time-honored 
use  among  pedagogues.     Plato  defines  a  good  edu- 
cation as  "  That  which  gives  to  the  body  and  to  the  \. 
soul  all  the  beauty  and  all  the  perfection  of  which 
they  are  capable."     The  ideal  aim  is  the  harmonious   ' 
or  symmetrical  development  of  the  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  powers.     Physical  training  is  for  the  health   ' 
of  the  soul,  as  well  as  for  the  strength  and  grace  of   ( 
the  body.     The   training  of  the  reason  is  of   first    ^ 
importance.     The  aesthetic  emotions  are  to  be  culti-    . 
vated  as  a  means  of  moral  and  religious  education. 
Memory  is  little  emphasized. 

The  artisans  and  laborers  were  simply  to  learn  a 
trade ;  the  warrior  class  were  to  be  trained  in  gym- 
nastics and  music.  The  complete  education  of  the 
highest  class,  or  the  magistrates,  was  to  include 
music  and  literature,  gymnastics,  arithmetic,  geometry 
and  astronomy,  and  finally  philosophy.  All  this  was 
to  be  supplemented  by  practical  acquaintance  with 
the  details  of  civil  and  military  functions. 

Education  is  the  foundation  of  the  state,  and  in 
the  "  Laws  '*  he  would  make  it  compulsory.  The 
women  are  to  receive  the  same  training  as  the  men. 
Children  are   to  be  taught   to  honor  their   parents 


44 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


and  respect  their  elders.  The  direction  in  which 
education  starts  a  man  will  determine  his  future  life. 
In  early  childhood  education  is  to  be  made  attractive, 
although  to  unduly  honor  the  likings  of  children  is 
to  spoil  them.  The  tales  which  children  are  per- 
mitted to  hear  must  be  models  of  virtuous  thought. 
Harmful  tales  concerning  the  gods  and  heroes  are 
prohibited,  but  noble  traits  and  deeds  of  endurance 
are  to  be  emphasized.  Youth  should  imitate  no 
baseness,  but  what  is  temperate,  holy,  free,  and 
courageous ;  for  **  imitations,  beginning  in  early 
youth,  at  last  sink  into  the  constitution  and  become 
a  second  nature."  Children  must  not  be  frightened 
with  ghost  stories  and  reference  to  the  infernal 
world. 

Excessive  athletics  makes  men  stupid  and  subject 
to  disease.  The  kinds  of  music  employed  in  educa- 
tion must  inspire  courage,  reverence,  freedom,  and 
temperance.  Art  should  present  true  beauty  and 
grace,  to  draw  the  soul  of  childhood  into  harmony 
with  the  beauty  of  reason.  "  Rhythm  and  harmony 
find  their  way  into  the  secret  places  of  the  soul, 
making  the  soul  graceful  of  him  who  is  rightly 
educated."  Good  language  and  music  and  grace 
and  rhythm  depend  on  simplicity. 

Arithmetic  cultivates  quickness,  and  teaches  ab- 
stract number  and  necessary  truth.  Geometry  deals 
with  axiomatic  knowledge  and  will  draw  the  soul 
toward  truth.  Astronomy  compels  the  mind  to 
look  upward.  It  is  to  be  studied  not  so  much  for 
practical  use,  as  in  navigation,  but  because  the  mind 
is  purified  and  illumined  thereby.  In  this  connec- 
tion Plato  maintains  his  position  against  those  who 
carp  at  the  so-called  useless  studies. 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY. 


45 


Plato's  ideal  state  offends  the  thought  of  conserva- 
tive men  more  than  all  else  in  his  writings,  but  it 
was  conceived  in  view  of  the  highest  ideas  of  virtue 
and  justice.  It  was  simply  bad  psychology.  He 
enumerates  and  describes  five  kinds  of  states  and  the 
corresponding  five  types  of  individual  character. 
Indeed  he  studies  justice  first  in  the  ideal  state,  and 
then  in  the  individual.  The  three  impulses  of  the 
soul  are  compared  with  the  three  classes  of  citizens 
in  the  state,  and  to  each  he  ascribes  its  excellence, 
thus  forming  his  list  of  virtues.  But  we  cannot 
dwell  upon  this  phase  of  Plato's  teachings.  We 
may,  however,  refer  to  his  caricature  of  extreme 
democracy ;  it  has  a  useful  modern  application. 

In  this  state  the  father  descends  to  his  son  and 
fears  him,  and  the  son  is  on  a  level  with  his  father 
and  does  not  fear  him.  The  alien  is  equal  to  the 
citizen,  and  the  slave  to  the  master.  The  master 
fears  and  flatters  his  scholars,  and  the  scholars  despise 
their  masters.  The  young  man  is  on  a  level  with 
the  old,  and  old  men,  for  fear  of  seeming  morose 
and  authoritative,  condescend  to  the  young  and  are 
full  of  pleasantry  and  gayety.  Even  the  animals  in 
the  democracy  show  the  spirit  of  equality,  and  the 
horses  and  asses  march  along  the  streets  with  all  the 
rights  and  dignities  of  freemen,  and  will  run  at  you 
if  you  do  not  get  out  of  their  way,  and  everything 
is  just  ready  to  burst  with  liberty.  The  citizens 
become  sensitive  and  chafe  at  authority,  and  cease 
to  care  for  the  laws.  Surely  the  statesman  can  turn 
to  Plato  for  wisdom,  for  out  of  this  condition  grows 
tyranny. 

And,  correspondingly,  the  democratical  young  man, 
a  kind  oi  fin  de  st^c/e  type,  is  described.     Insolence 


^/*     cor 


46  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

he  terms  breeding,  and  anarchy  liberty,  and  waste 
magnificence,  and  impudence  courage. 

No  wonder  Plato  saw  that  his  ideal  state  would 
not  be  realized  until  kings  became  philosophers,  that 
is  to  say — never.  Modern  dreamers  might  profit  by 
his  wise  predictions. 


Plato's  doctrine  is  one  of  ideas  and  idealism  as 
contrasted  with  sensations  and  sensationalism.  It  is 
spiritualism  as  contrasted  with  materialism.  The 
higher  produces  the  lower,  instead  of  the  lower 
the  higher.  It  is  the  doctrine  that  recognizes  the 
rational  order  of  the  world,  the  transcendent  nature 
of  conscious  man,  and  his  ethical  aim.  It  places 
ideals  before  man,  in  the  attaining  of  which  he  comes 
to  realization  of  his  true  being.  It  is  a  doctrine  of 
rational  explanation  of  man's  existence.  As  such  it 
has  always  strongly  invited  the  adherence  of  phi- 
losophers and  Christians.  The  founders  of  the  church 
regarded  Plato  as  directly  inspired  or  as  having  de- 
rived inspiration  from  the  Hebrew  scriptures. 

The  doctrine  of  Universals  may  be  taken  with 
allowance,  but  we  may  believe  that  it  represents  the 
right  side  of  philosophical  thought.  It  matters  not 
much  whether  we  hold  to  the  view  of  Plato's  ideas 
or  native  truths  of  the  mind  developed  by  experience 
or  the  creative  activity  of  the  mind  in  knowing  the 
outer  world  or  the  doctrine  of  participation  in  the 
divine  nature  and  divine  thought  or  the  power  to 
generalize  from  the  facts  of  subjective  and  objective 
nature,  a  power  above,  and  not  of,  material  nature — 
all  these  views  imply  man's  spiritual  and  ideal 
character.  Behind  man  and  behind  nature  is  the 
same  reality.     In  some  sense  (not  the  pantheistic,  as 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY.  47 

commonly  understood)  both  are  manifestations  of 
that  reality.  Hence  the  power  of  man  to  know  the 
world,  because  it  is  a  rational  world,  and  manifesta- 
tion answers  to  manifestation,  thought  to  thought. 
He  who  claims  that  all  knowledge  is  founded  in 
sensation  is  partly  right ;  for  to  know  the  outer 
realm  is  to  realize  the  inner  and  to  know,  in  part, 
the  truth  of  the  Universe. 

Subjective  ideas,  in  some  form,  must  be  retained  in 
philosophy.  Our  world,  as  a  world  of  evolution,  is 
orderly  and  has  a  progressive  plan  ;  hence,  according 
to  all  human  conception,  is  the  product  of  ideas 
worked  out  through  what  are  called  the  laws  of  nature. 

Men  have  always  asked  what  is  the  use  of  philoso- 
phy, and  to-day  they  repeat  the  question  with 
emphasis.  We  appreciate  the  state  of  mind  that 
rejoices  in  consciousness  of  standing  on  the  solid 
earth,  the  courageous  patience  that  works  out  with 
guarded  induction  scientific  truth,  the  honesty  that 
will  not  substitute  hasty  conjecture  for  fact,  and  the 
faith  that  works  toward  results  to  be  fully  realized 
only  in  the  distant  future.  But  many  scientific  men 
are  coming  to  regard  biological  and  psychological 
sciences  as  great  laboratories  for  philosophy.  We 
may  believe  the  coming  problems  will  be  solved  by 
the  cooperation  of  philosophy  and  science.  Science 
studies  the  objective  side  and  philosophy  the  sub- 
jective side  of  the  same  reality. 

Philosophy  has  a  use  as  an  attempt  to  satisfy  the 
imperative  need  of  men  to  ask  the  meaning  of  their 
being.  It  has  a  use  as  forming  a  rational  hypothesis 
concerning  a  First  Cause,  and  a  Final  Aim.  It  is  a 
ground  of  belief  in  ideals.  All  speculative  philosophy 
has  been  inspired  more  or  less  by  Platonism,  and  has 


48  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

given  the  world  the  noblest,  most  hopeful,  useful, 
and  influential  systems  of  ethics.  Philosophical 
training  gives  the  power  to  view  comprehensively, 
connectedly,  and  logically  any  group  of  facts.  It 
contains  the  presuppositions  of  science  and  of  our 
very  existence.  The  investigator  in  the  forest  learns 
many  valuable  details ;  if  he  ascends  the  mountains, 
he  views  the  landscape  as  a  whole,  and,  as  it  were, 
finds  himself.  Finally  philosophy  represents  the 
supreme,  the  spiritual,  interests  of  man  and  aims  at 
essential  truth. 

Will  it  be  relegated  to  the  shelves  of  archaeology  ? 
The  signs  of  to-day  appear  to  answer  no.  In  the 
whole  history  of  philosophy,  the  mind  has  never  been 
able  to  rest  permanently  in  any  extreme  or  one-sided 
position  or  in  any  position  that  is  inadequate  to 
explain  essential  facts  of  existence.  Hence  it  cannot 
rest  permanently  in  materialism.  A  recent  writer 
speaks  of  the  history  of  philosophy  as  "  preeminently 
a  record  of  remarkable  returns  of  the  human  intellect 
to  ancient  follies  and  dreams,  long  since  outgrown 
and  supposed  to  have  been  consigned  to  oblivion." 
Well !  It  is  strange  indeed  if  nature  has  evolved 
a  product  whose  needs,  instincts,  and  native  beliefs 
are  a  lie,  a  product  without  aim  or  rational  ground 
for  existence.  If  it  is  so,  then  pessimism  is  our 
philosophy  and  annihilation  our  best  solution  of  the 
problem  of  conscious  life.  Most  men  are  too  re- 
spectful believers  in  evolution  to  ascribe  to  nature 
any  such  satanic  irony. 

At  any  rate  one  likes  to  take  an  excursion  in  this 
field  ;  he  feels  benefited  by  the  trip.  Men  still  like 
to  seek  the  great  fountain  head  of  philosophy,  and 
take  a  dip  in  the  Castalian  spring — a  mental  bath  of 


PLATO'S  PHILOSOPHY.  ^g 

this  sort  is  a  good  and  useful  thing.  They  like  to  sit 
in  the  shady  groves  of  the  Academy  and  listen  to 
Plato  or  walk  with  Aristotle  in  the  environs  of  the 
Gymnasium.  The  mighty  minds  of  the  past  have 
marked  out  the  broad  outlines  of  truth ;  it  is  our 
work  to  fill  in,  to  correct.  The  ethical  conceptions 
were  furnished  by  the  ancients.  The  modern  world 
has  merely  made  them  richer  in  content  and  broader 
in  application.  The  deeper  meaning  of  any  philoso- 
phy or  science  is  learned  by  the  historic  method, 
which  gives  us  the  trend  of  events. 

The  closing  words  of  the  "  Republic  "  are  an  appro- 
priate ending  to  the  discussion  of  Plato :  "  And 
thus,  Glaucon,  the  tale  has  been  saved  and  has  not 
perished,  and  may  be  our  salvation,  if  we  are  obedient 
to  the  spoken  word ;  and  we  shall  pass  safely  over 
the  river  of  Forgetfulness  and  our  soul  will  not  be 
defiled.  Wherefore  my  counsel  is  that  we  hold  fast 
to  the  heavenly  way  and  follow  after  justice  and 
virtue  always,  considering  that  the  soul  is  immortal 
and  able  to  endure  every  sort  of  good  and  every  sort 
of  evil.  Thus  shall  we  live,  dear  to  one  another  and 
to  the  gods,  both  while  remaining  here  and  when, 
like  conquerors  in  the  games  who  go  round  to  gather 
gifts,  we  receive  our  reward.  And  it  shall  be  well 
with  us  both  in  this  life  and  in  the  pilgrimage  of  a 
thousand  years  which  we  have  been  reciting." 

'*  Plato,  thou  reasonest  well  ! — 
Else  whence  this  pleasing  hope,  this  fond  desire, 
This  longing  after  immortality  ? 


'Tis  the  divinity  that  stirs  within  us  ; 

'Tis  heaven  itself  that  points  out  an  hereafter, 

And  intimates  eternity  to  man." 

4 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION  :   A  REVIEW  * 

The  manner  of  investigation  of  the  Committee  of 
Ten  took  a  somewhat  different  turn  from  what  was 
anticipated  when  the  original  report  which  led  to  the 
undertaking  was  made,  but  no  one  now  doubts  the 
wisdom  of  the  plan  finally  adopted.     It  would  be 

*  In  a  report  on  requirements  for  admission  to  college,  made  to 
the  National  Council  of  Education  in  1891,  the  following  recom- 
mendation appeared : 

"  That  a  committee  be  appointed  by  this  Council  to  select  a  dozen 
universities  and  colleges  and  a  dozen  high  and  preparatory  schools, 
to  be  represented  in  a  convention  to  consider  the  problems  of  second- 
ary and  higher  education." 

In  accordance  with  the  recommendation,  the  committee  making 
the  report,  of  which  the  writer  was  chairman,  was  authorized  to  call 
a  meeting  of  representatives  of  leading  educational  institutions,  at 
Saratoga  in  1892.  Invitations  were  issued  and  some  thirty  delegates 
responded.  After  a  three  days'  session  a  plan  was  formulated,  which 
was  adopted  by  the  National  Council.  The  Committe  of  Ten,  thus 
appointed  and  charged  with  the  duty  of  conducting  an  investigation 
of  secondary-school  studies,  held  its  first  meeting  in  New  York  City 
in  November,  1892,  with  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  University  as 
chairman.  The  committee  arranged  for  nine  subcommittees  or 
conferences,  each  to  consider  a  principal  subject  of  high-school 
courses,  and  submitted  to  them  definite  inquiries.  Each  conference 
was  composed  of  prominent  instructors  in  the  particular  subject  as- 
signed. The  inquiries  covered  such  points  as  place  of  beginning  the 
study,  time  to  be  given,  selection  of  topics,  advisability  of  difference 
in  treatment  for  pupils  going  to  college  and  for  those  who  finish  with 
the  high  school,  methods,  etc.  The  reports  of  these  conferences  in 
printed  form,  together  with  a  summary  of  the  recommendations,  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  at  their  second  meeting  in  New 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION :   A    REVIEW. 


51 


difficult  to  find  groups  of  men  in  America  better 
fitted  than  the  members  of  the  conferences  appointed 
by  the  Committee  to  discuss  the  specific  subjects  as- 
signed them  ;  and  their  recommendations  as  to  choice 
of  matter  for  secondary  schools,  the  time  element, 
place  of  studies  in  the  curriculum,  and  the  best 
methods  constitute  a  most  valuable  contribution  to 
the  educational  literature  of  the  period.  In  the 
main,  they  represent  the  best  thought  of  practical 
educators. 

We  shall  not  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  details 
of  these  conference  reports ;  each  report  and,  in 
many  instances,  each  section  of  a  report  is  in  itself  a 
large  theme.  The  summary  of  results  and  the  rec- 
ommendations of  the  Committee  of  Ten  will  occupy 
the  time  allotted. 

It  was  expected  that  the  report  as  a  whole  would 
excite  much  discussion  and  invite  extensive  criticism ; 
and  if  no  other  result  is  attained  than  the  sharpening 
of  wits  in  controversy,  the  existence  of  the  report  has 
sufficient  warrant. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  of  any  opinions  that  they 
are  final,  and  of  any  methods  that  they  are  the  best. 
Some  hold  that  the  eternal  verities  are  to  be  discov- 
ered in  the  consciousness  of  the  few  geniuses,  and 
that  obtaining  a  consensus  of  opinion  is  not  the  way 
to  reach  wise  conclusions.  If  we  are  Hegelian  in  our 
philosophy  of  history,  we  shall  hold  to  the  law  of 

York,  November,  1893.  The  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten,  in- 
cluding the  conference  reports,  through  the  good  offices  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  was  published  by  the  Government. 

As  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Ten,  the  author  was  invited  to 
review  the  Report  before  the  Council  of  Education,  at  a  meeting  held 
inAsbury  Park,  July,  1894. 


52 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


development,  shall  believe  that  each  stage  of  thought 
is  a  necessary  one,  that  the  best  light  is  obtained  by 
the  historic  method,  and  that  the  highest  evolution 
of  thought  is  to  be  found  in  the  belief  and  practice  of 
the  advanced  representatives  of  any  line  of  investiga- 
tion. The  work  of  the  conferences  was  to  correlate 
the  parts  of  each  subject  by  the  method  of  applying 
reason  to  history ;  it  was  the  work  of  the  commit- 
tee proper  to  correlate  these  results  by  the  same 
method.  Whether  the  committee  was  large  and 
varied  enough  to  represent  all  sides  is  to  be  decided 
by  the  discussions  of  those  best  fitted  to  form 
opinions. 

After  a  careful  review  of  the  work  of  our  com- 
mittee, I  venture  to  make  a  formal  list  of  opinions 
presented,  most  of  which,  I  think,  should  be  heartily 
indorsed,  reserving  till  later  the  discussion  of  a  few 
of  them : 

1.  That  work  in  many  secondary  -  school  studies 
should  be  begun  earlier. 

2.  That  each  subject  should  be  made  to  help  every 
other,  as,  for  example,  history  should  contribute  to 
the  study  of  English,  and  natural  history  should  be 
correlated  with  language,  drawing,  literature,  and 
geography. 

3.  That  every  subject  should  be  taught  in  the  same 
way,  whether  in  preparation  for  college  or  as  part  of 
a  finishing  course. 

4.  That  more  highly  trained  teachers  are  needed, 
especially  for  subjects  that  are  receiving  increased 
attention,  as  the  various  sciences  and  history. 

5.  That  in  all  scientific  subjects,  laboratory  work 
should  be  extended  and  improved. 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION :  A   REVIEW.         53 

6.  That  for  some  studies  special  instructors  should 
be  employed  to  guide  the  work  of  teachers  in  ele- 
mentaiy  and  secondary  schools. 

7.  That  all  pupils  should  pursue  a  given  subject  in 
the  same  way,  and  to  the  same  extent,  as  long  as  they 
study  it  at  all. 

8.  That  every  study  should  be  made  a  serious  sub- 
ject of  instruction,  and  should  cultivate  the  pupil's 
powers  of  observation,  memory,  expression,  and  rea- 
soning. 

9.  That  the  choice  between  the  classical  course 
and  the  Latin-scientific  course  should  be  postponed 
as  long  as  possible,  until  the  taste  and  power  of  the 
pupil  have  been  tested,  and  he  has  been  able  to  de- 
termine his  future  aim. 

10.  That  twenty  periods  per  week  should  be 
adopted  as  the  standard,  providing  that  five  of  these 
periods  be  given  to  unprepared  work. 

11.  That  parallel  programmes  should  be  identical 
in  as  many  of  their  parts  as  possible. 

12.  That  drawing  should  be  largely  employed  in 
connection  with  most  of  the  studies. 

13.  The  omission  of  industrial  and  commercial 
subjects.     This  is  mentioned  without  comment. 

14.  That  more  field  work  should  be  required  for 
certain  sciences. 

15.  The  desirability  of  uniformity.  Not  definitely 
recommended  in  the  report. 

16.  That  the  function  of  the  high  schools  should 
be  to  prepare  for  the  duties  of  life  as  well  as  to  fit 
for  college. 

17.  That  colleges  and  scientific  schools  should  ac- 
cept any  one  of  the  courses  of  study  as  preparation 
for  admission. 


54  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

1 8.  That  a  good  course  in  English  should  be  re- 
quired of  all  pupils  entering  college. 

19.  That  many  teachers  should  employ  various 
means  for  better  preparation,  such  as  summer  schools, 
special  courses  of  instruction  given  by  college  pro- 
fessors, and  instruction  of  school  superintendents, 
principals  of  high  schools,  or  specially  equipped 
teachers. 

20.  That  the  colleges  should  take  a  larger  interest 
in  secondary  and  elementary  schools. 

21.  That  technological  and  professional  schools 
should  require  for  admission  a  complete  secondary- 
school  education. 

22.  That  each  study  pursued  should  be  given 
continuous  time  adequate  to  securing  from  it  good 
results. 

The  points  of  the  report  which  I  should  question 
are  as  follows : 

1.  That  Latin  should  be  begun  much  earlier  than 
now.     (This  is  a  conference  recommendation.) 

2.  That  English  should  be  given  as  much  time  as 
Latin.     (Conference  recommendation.) 

3.  The  large  number  of  science  subjects  recom- 
mended, with  loss  of  adequate  time  for  each. 

4.  The  omission  of  a  careful  analysis  of  the  value 
of  each  subject,  absolute  and  relative,  preparatory  to 
tabulating  courses. 

5.  The  apparent  implication  that  the  multiplying 
of  courses  is  advisable. 

6.  The  implications  that  the  choice  of  subjects  by 
the  pupils  may  be  a  matter  of  comparative  indiffer- 
ence— the  doctrine  of  equivalence  of  studies. 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION:  A   REVIEW. 


7.  Some  parts  of  the  model  programmes  made  by 
the  committee. 

An  examination  of  tabulated  results  of  the  in- 
vestigations of  the  conferences  will  show  that  in 
their  opinion  the  following  studies  should  be  begun 
below  the  high  school : 

English  literature. 

German  or  French. 

Elementary  algebra  and  concrete  geometry. 

Natural  phenomena. 

Natural  history. 

Biography  and  mythology,  civil  government,  and 
Greek  and  Roman  history. 

Physical  geography. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  within  a  few  years 
as  to  improvements  in  elementary  courses  of  study, 
with  a  growing  tendency  toward  important  modifica- 
tions. Rigid  and  mechanical  methods  and  an  exag- 
gerated notion  of  thoroughness  in  every  detail  have 
often  become  a  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  the 
pupils  in  elementary  schools.  The  mind  of  the  child 
is  susceptible  of  a  more  mature  development  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  than  is  usually  attained.  There  are 
numerous  examples  of  pupils  in  graded  schools,  who, 
with  very  limited  school  terms,  prepare  for  the  high 
school  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  Under  the  guidance 
of  painstaking  and  intelligent  parents  or  private 
tutors,  children  cover,  in  a  very  brief  time,  the 
studies  of  the  grammar  school.  All  have  noted, 
under  favoring  conditions,  a  surprising  development, 
at  an  early  age,  in  understanding  of  history,  litera- 
ture, and  common  phenomena,  a  growth  far  beyond 
that  reached  at  the  same  age  in  the  schools.     These 


56  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

facts  simply  show  the  possibilities  of  the  period  of 
elementary  education.  We  understand  that  ulti- 
mately those  best  prepared  to  judge  must  determine 
the  modifications,  if  any  are  needed,  of  the  elemen- 
tary courses.  Some  say  the  courses  are  already  over- 
crowded, it  is  impossible  to  add  anything.  Is  it  not 
true,  however,  that  by  placing  less  stress  upon  a  few 
things,  by  arousing  mental  activity  through  the 
stimulus  of  the  scientific  method,  and  by  improving 
the  skill  of  the  teachers,  the  work  suggested  by  these 
conferences  may  be  easily  accomplished  ?  All  these 
experiments  are  already  old  in  many  schools  in  the 
country. 

Consider  the  logical  order  of  studies.  Each  child, 
almost  from  the  dawn  of  consciousness,  recognizes 
relations  of  number  and  space,  observes  phenomena 
and  draws  crude  inferences,  records  in  his  mind  the 
daily  deeds  of  his  associates,  and  employs  language 
to  express  his  thought,  often  with  large  use  of 
imagination.  Already  has  begun  the  spontaneous 
development  in  mathematics,  science,  history,  and 
literature.  Nature  points  the  way  and  we  should 
follow  the  direction.  These  subjects  in  their  various 
forms  should  be  pursued  from  the  first.  Hill's 
"  True  Order  of  Studies  "  shows  that  there  are  some 
five  parallel,  upward-running  lines  representing  the 
divisions  of  knowledge,  and  that  development  may 
be  compared  to  the  encircling,  onward  movement  of 
a  spiral,  which,  at  each  turn,  cuts  off  a  portion  of  all 
the  lines.  If  we  accept  this  view,  we  must  grant 
that  geometry  on  its  concrete  side  belongs  to  the 
earliest  period  of  education ;  that  the  observation  of 
natural  phenomena  with  simple  inferences  will  be  a 
most  attractive  study  to  the  child  ;  that  the  import- 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION :  A   REVIEW. 


57 


ance  of  observation  of  objects  of  natural  history  is 
foreshadowed  by  the  spontaneous  interest  taken  in 
them  before  the  school  period ;  that  tales  of  ancient 
heroes,  and  the  pleasing  myths  of  antiquity,  together 
with  the  striking  characters  and  incidents  of  Greek 
and  Roman  history,  belong  to  the  early  period  of 
historic  knowledge  ;  that  the  whole  world  of  sub- 
stance and  phenomena  that  constitutes  our  environ- 
ment should  be  the  subject  of  study  under  the  head 
of  physiography  or  physical  geography ;  that  the 
thoughts  of  literature,  ethical  and  imaginative,  ap- 
peal readily  to  the  child's  mind.  We  may  add  that 
the  taste  of  children  may  be  early  cultivated,  and 
that  the  glory  which  the  child  discovers  in  nature 
makes  possible  the  art  idea  and  the  religious  senti- 
ment. The  reason  for  beginning  a  foreign  language 
early  is  somewhat  independent,  but  all  agree  that 
early  study  of  a  living  language  is  desirable. 

Should  we  not  reconsider  our  analysis  of  the 
elementary  courses  ?  Superintendents  and  teachers 
will  find  the  necessary  changes  not  impossible  but 
easy.  The  sum  of  all  that  is  recommended  for  the 
elementary  schools  by  the  conferences  is  not  so 
formidable  as  at  first  appears. 

In  the  conference  reports  to  the  Committee  of  Ten 
are"  some  views  that  have  a  bearing  upon  the  subject 
of  the  high-school  period.  The  Latin  Conference 
hopes  for  a  modification  of  the  grammar-school 
courses,  that  the  high-school  course  may  be  be- 
gun earlier.  The  Greek  Conference  voted  that  the 
average  age  at  which  pupils  enter  college  should 
be  lowered.  The  Conference  on  English  was  of 
the  opinion  that  English  work  during  the  last  two 


58  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

years  of  the  grammar-school  course  should  be  in 
the  hands  of  a  special  teacher  or  teachers.  The 
Conference  on  Modern  Languages  holds  that  when- 
ever competent  teachers  can  be  secured  the 
grammar  school  should  have  an  elective  course  in 
French  or  German.  The  Physics  Conference  rec- 
ommended that  "  Whenever  it  is  possible,  special 
science  teachers  or  superintendents  should  be  ap- 
pointed to  instruct  teachers  of  elementary  schools 
in  the  methods  of  teaching  natural  phenomena." 
The  History  Conference  thought  it  desirable  that  in 
all  schools  history  should  be  taught  by  teachers  who 
have  a  fondness  for  historical  studies  and  have  paid 
special  attention  to  effective  methods  of  imparting 
instruction.  One  member  of  the  conference  was 
almost  ready  to  advise  omitting  history  from  school 
programmes  because  of  so  much  rote,  text-book 
teaching. 

These  opinions  are  additional  evidence  of  need  of 
modifications  in  grammar-school  work,  and  some 
think  that  ultimately  the  best  solution  will  be  found 
in  extending  the  high-school  period  downward  to  in- 
clude part  of  the  elementary  period. 

It  was  agreed  in  the  Committee  of  Ten  that  their 
task  would  be  less  difficult  did  the  high-school  period 
begin,  say  two  years  earlier ;  and  the  reason  why  the 
recommendation  of  the  conferences,  that  certain 
studies  be  introduced  below  the  high  school,  was 
viewed  with  suspicion  was  the  impossibility,  with  the 
present  organization  of  the  schools,  of  securing 
good  instruction  in  these  studies. 

The  following  view  of  the  high-school  period  is 
expressed  by  a  prominent  high-school  principal : 
"  My  opinion  is  that  it  would  be  much  better  for  our 


SECOND AR  r  ED  UCA  TION  :  A   RE  VIE  W.  59 

boys  and  girls  to  begin  their  preparation  for  college 
at  least  two  years  earlier  than  they  now  do.  If  our 
high  schools  could  receive  the  pupils  at  eleven  or 
twelve,  instead  of  fourteen,  preparation  for  college 
would  be  completed  at  sixteen  instead  of  eighteen, 
as  is  now  generally  the  case." 

The  custom  in  European  countries  supports  the 
view  that  high-school  methods  should  reach  down 
into  the  grades.  In  Prussia  only  three  years  of  ele- 
mentary work  precede  the  gymnasium,  and  the  pupil 
can  enter  the  gymnasium  at  the  age  of  nine.  The 
gymnasium  itself  covers  a  period  of  nine  years,  ex- 
tending five  years  below  the  period  of  our  high 
schools.  Examining  the  course  of  the  Prussian 
gymnasium,  we  find  in  the  first  five  years,  or  before 
the  age  of  fourteen,  Latin,  Greek,  French,  history, 
geometry,  natural  history ;  and  it  is  conceded  by 
many  educators  that  more  is  attained  by  the  age  of 
eighteen  in  Germany  than  in  this  country  ;  that  at 
the  age  of  fourteen  in  Germany  the  development 
of  the  pupil  is  more  mature,  and  that  in  essential 
features  of  education  he  has  made  more  desirable 
progress. 

If  our  high  schools  should  be  made  equivalent  in 
length  and  rank  to  the  Prussian  gymnasium,  the 
change  would  involve  the  entire  reconstruction  of 
our  school  system,  from  the  primary  school  to  the 
end  of  the  university.  The  high  schools  would  be- 
come colleges,  and  the  colleges  would  become  high 
schools,  and  the  graduates  from  them  would  enter 
the  university  prepared  to  take  up  professional  or 
other  special  university  work.  That  there  are  many 
leading  educators  who  advocate  these  changes  for 
the  universities  is  well  known,  and  there  are  some 


6o  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

Strong  tendencies  toward  the  German  system.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  deplore  the  possibiHty  of  los- 
ing the  American  college,  which  is  an  institution 
somewhat  peculiar  to  this  country.  They  think  that 
its  broad,  general  education  and  superior  culture  are 
worth  retaining,  and  that  specialization  should  begin 
at  a  late  period. 

One  significant  fact  stares  us  in  the  face,  namely, 
that  the  average  American  boy  no  longer  will 
spend  four  years  beyond  the  high  school  in  general 
education,  and  then  pass  four  years  more  at  the 
professional  school  or  three  years  in  the  graduate 
course.  Somewhere  the  work  must  be  shortened,  in 
either  the  elementary  school,  the  high  school,  or  the 
college. 

The  whole  subject  is  of  great  interest  and  impor- 
tance, but  at  the  present  stage  of  inquiry  no  definite 
conclusions  can  be  reached. 

The  relation  of  the  mind  to  a  study  is  determined 
by  the  nature  of  the  mind  and  the  nature  of  the 
study,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  in  psychology 
why  a  college-preparatory  subject  should  be  taught 
differently  to  one  fitting  for  the  duties  of  life.  Be- 
sides, it  is  economy  to  make  identical  the  work  of 
different  courses,  as  far  as  possible.  There  was  per- 
fect unanimity  in  the  opinion  that  the  same  studies 
should  be  pursued  by  all  in  the  same  way,  as  far  as 
taken. 

Every  one  knows  that  many  teachers  are  unskilled 
to  present  in  the  elementary  schools  the  beginnings 
of  geometry,  science,  history,  or  literature,  and  that 
the  failures  in  this  work  are  due  to  the  mechanical 
efforts  of  those  who  have  had  no  higher  or  special 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION :  A   REVIEW.  6 1 

training.  The  demands  of  present  methods  are  im- 
perative for  improved  power  in  instruction.  Science 
is  not  well  taught  in  all  schools.  There  is  a  school 
which  teaches  biology  from  a  manual  without  speci- 
men, microscope,  or  illustrations.  It  was  a  humiliat- 
ing confession  of  the  committee  that  the  classical 
course  is  superior,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  difficult  to 
find  enough  instructors  competent  to  teach  modern 
subjects  by  modern  methods. 

A  very  important  point,  recognized  by  the  com- 
mittee, is  the  advantage  of  postponing  as  long  as 
possible  the  necessity  of  making  a  final  choice  of 
courses.  In  this  country  we  have  no  fixed  condi- 
tions of  rank,  and  the  poor  man's  son  has  the  same 
privileges  as  the  sons  of  position  and  wealth.  Hence, 
the  station  in  life  is  not  determined  by  the  differ- 
entiation in  courses  at  an  early  period.  Very  few 
parents  decide  upon  the  final  character  of  the  child's 
instruction  much  before  the  beginning  of  the  college 
period. 

For  these  reasons  many  would  not  agree  with  the 
conference  recommendation  to  begin  Latin  at  an 
earlier  period.  It  would  not  be  economy ;  there  is 
enough  else  that  belongs  to  the  elementary  stage  of 
education,  and  no  plan  is  feasible  that  is  founded 
upon  the  foreign  view  of  caste  and  fixed  condition 
in  life. 

Uniformity  in  requirements  for  admission  to  col- 
lege was  the  subject  of  the  report  that  finally  led  to 
this  investigation.  Although  uniformity  is  not 
prominently  urged  in  the  report  of  the  Committee  of 
Ten,  doubtless  the  logical  outcome  of  the  latter  report 
will  be  a  tendency  toward  some  kind  of  uniformity. 


62  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

There  is  a  vigorous  conflict  of  opinion  to-day  as 
to  nationalism  and  individualism,  with  a  strong 
tendency,  especially  in  education,  toward  individual- 
ism. In  the  opinion  of  many  there  exists  a  harmful 
slavery  of  the  high  and  preparatory  schools  to  the 
erratic  and  varied  demands  of  different  colleges,  and 
also  a  slavery  to  ignorance  and  caprice  in  some 
schools  themselves,  which  would  be  removed  by  a 
general  agreement  to  uniformity.  Men  are  not  en- 
slaved, but  are  emancipated,  by  organization,  and 
freedom  of  the  individual  is  found  in  the  good  order 
of  society  and  government.  In  a  facetious  criticism 
of  the  committee's  report,  arguing  for  extreme  in- 
dividualism in  choice  of  studies,  appears  the  follow- 
ing query  :  "  Please  tell  us  if  you  and  your  colleagues 
on  the  conference  considered  any  methods  for  the 
encouragement  of  cranks  ?  "  No  ;  for  the  encourage- 
ment neither  of  cranks,  nor  of  crankiness,  but  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  best  kind  of  rational  education. 
While  there  are  a  few  wise,  independent  investigators 
who  need  no  enforced  uniformity,  and  will  not  be 
bound  by  the  recommendations  of  others,  many  of  the 
schools  are  largely  imitators,  or,  worse,  are  working 
independently  with  limited  insight,  and  these  schools 
would  be  vastly  improved  by  adopting  courses  and 
methods  growing  from  a  consensus  of  the  best 
opinions  of  the  country.  The  lowest  would  thereby 
tend  to  rise  to  the  highest,  and  from  that  plane  a 
new  advance  could  be  made.  Meantime  the  original 
thinkers  would  be  free  to  push  forward  toward  higher 
results,  to  be  generally  adopted  later.  Through  con- 
tact of  various  ideas  some  principles  are  settled,  and 
the  world  is  free  to  move  on  toward  fresh  discovery. 
The  selection  of  studies  is  to  be  determined  largely 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION :  A   REVIEW.  63 

by  the  nature  of  the  mind  and  by  the  universal 
character  of  natural  and  civil  environments,  and  this 
fact  points  toward  the  possibility  of  uniformity. 
The  period  of  secondary  education  is  not  the  period 
for  specializing,  and  even  if  it  were,  there  should  be 
some  uniformity  in  differentiation.  In  the  United 
States  there  is,  broadly  speaking,  uniformity  of 
tradition,  of  government,  of  civilization,  and  the 
educated  youth  of  San  Francisco  bears  about  the 
same  relation  to  the  world  as  the  educated  youth  of 
Boston ;  hence,  so  far  as  elementary  and  secondary 
education  is  pursued,  there  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  not  be  substantially  the  same  in  various 
schools — not  in  details  belonging  to  the  individual 
teacher,  but  in  paper  requirements  and  important 
features  of  methods. 

Nothing  in  the  whole  report  is  more  important 
than  the  proposed  closer  connection  between  high 
schools  and  colleges,  and  this  is  clearly  and  forcibly 
urged.  Whatever  course  of  study  properly  belongs 
to  a  secondary  school  is  also  a  good  preparation  for 
higher  education,  else  either  secondary  or  higher 
education  is  seriously  in  error.  Whenever  a  youth 
decides  to  take  a  college  course,  he  should  find  him- 
self on  the  road  toward  it.  No  one  can  doubt  that 
in  the  coming  years  pupils  having  pursued  properly 
arranged  high-school  courses  must  be  admitted  to 
corresponding  courses  in  higher  education.  The 
divorcement  between  higher  education  and  all  lower 
grade  work,  except  the  classical,  has  been  a  fatal 
defect  in  the  past.  The  entire  course  of  education 
should  be  a  practical  interest  of  college  professors, 
and  there  should  be  a  hearty  cooperation  between 


64  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

them  and  school  superintendents  and  principals  in 
considering  all  educational  problems. 

It  is  a  fact  of  significance  that  a  committee,  on 
which  some  leading  institutions  are  represented, 
urges  the  professional  schools  of  the  country  to 
place  their  standard  of  admission  as  high  as  that  of 
the  colleges ;  and  we  hope  that  aid  will  thus  be 
given  the  institutions  endeavoring  to  raise  the  re- 
quirements of  law,  medical,  and  divinity  schools. 

The  reports  of  most  of  the  conferences  asked  for 
continuous  and  adequate  work  for  each  subject,  that 
it  might  become  a  source  of  discipline  and  of  valuable 
insight.  No  doubt  part  of  the  work  in  high  schools 
is  too  brief  and  fragmentary  to  gain  from  it  the  best 
results. 

The  aim  should  be  to  reduce  the  number  of  sub- 
jects taken  by  any  pupil,  and  the  number  of  topics 
under  a  subject.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the  entire 
landscape  be  studied  in  all  its  parts  and  details,  if  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  most  prominent  features 
is  gained. 

In  one  important  point  I  was  constrained  to  differ 
from  the  reading  of  the  report,  as  finally  submitted, 
although  the  expressions  to  which  exceptions  were 
taken  were  due  rather  to  the  standpoint  of  the  writer 
of  the  report  than  the  resolutions  of  the  committee. 
I  refer  to  those  paragraphs  in  which  it  is  implied 
that  the  choice  of  studies  in  secondary  schools  may 
be  a  matter  of  comparative  indifference,  provided 
good  training  is  obtained  from  the  subjects  chosen. 
This  view  makes  education  formal,  without  giving 
due  regard  to  the  content.  Here  are  the  world  of 
nature  and  the  world  of  mind.     Nature,  when  its 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION :   A    REVIEW.  65 

meaning  is  realized,  has  the  same  meaning  for  all, 
and  in  its  various  phases  affects  all  in  substantially 
the  same  way.  The  history  of  mankind,  in  its  vari- 
ous kinds  and  degrees  of  development,  has  the  same 
content  for  all.  The  nature  of  mind  in  generic  char- 
acteristics, and  the  universal  truths  that  belong  to 
the  spiritual  world,  are  the  same  for  all.  Mind  has 
the  same  powers  in  all  human  beings.  We  all  know, 
feel,  and  will ;  all  persons  acquire  through  attention, 
retain  in  memory  under  the  same  conditions,  obey 
the  same  laws  of  association,  reason,  so  far  as  rightly, 
from  the  same  principles,  act  from  motives.  Men 
may  be  classed  crudely  according  to  the  motives  that 
will  appeal  to  them.  While  there  are  infinite  varia- 
tions in  details  of  men's  natures,  in  power  of  insight, 
degree  of  development,  methods  of  acquisition,  pre- 
dominant motives,  in  interests  and  tendencies,  alt 
persons  in  their  growth  obey  the  laws  of  human  na- 
ture. Hence,  we  may  argue  that  a  science  of  edu- 
cation is  possible ;  that  it  is  possible  to  select  studies 
with  a  view  to  their  universal  use  in  the  primary 
development  of  the  powers,  and  with  the  assurance 
of  superior  value  as  revealing  to  man  his  entire  en- 
vironment and  the  nature  of  his  being. 

Mere  form,  mere  power,  without  content,  mean 
nothing.  Power  is  power  through  knowledge.  The 
very  world  in  which  we  are  to  use  our  power  is  the 
world  which  we  must  first  understand  in  order  to 
use  it.  The  present  is  understood,  not  by  the  power 
to  read  history,  but  by  what  history  contains.  The 
laws  of  nature  and  deductions  therefrom  are  not 
made  available  by  mere  power,  but  by  the  power 
which  comes  from  the  knowledge  of  them.  Hence, 
the  education  which  does  not  include  something  of 


(^  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

all  views  of  the  world,  and  of  the  thinking  subject,  is 
lacking  in  data  for  the  wise  and  effective  use  of 
power. 

In  view  of  this  position,  the  committee  might  well 
analyze  carefully  the  nature  and  importance  of  each 
leading  subject,  representing  a  part  of  the  field  of 
knowledge,  to  the  end  that  a  wise  correlation  of  the 
work  of  the  conferences  might  be  made.  The  study 
of  number  in  its  concrete  form  and  in  its  abstract 
relations,  the  study  of  space  relations,  as  founded 
upon  axiomatic  truths,  are  necessary  as  a  basis  of 
many  kinds  of  knowledge,  as  representing  an  essen- 
tial view  of  the  world,  as  a  foundation  for  the  possi- 
bilities of  commerce  and  structures,  and  as  furnish- 
ing important  training  in  exact  reasoning.  Science 
includes  many  things ;  but  chemistry  and  physics, 
which  explain  the  manifestations  of  force  in  the  mate- 
rial world,  biology  which  reveals  important  laws  of 
plant  and  animal  life,  and  physiography,  which  ac- 
quaints us  with  our  entire  environment  as  to  loca- 
tion, phenomena,  and  partial  explanation — these  are 
connected  with  the  practical  side  of  civilization  and 
the  welfare  of  humanity,  and  are  a  guard  against 
superstition  and  error;  they  are  indispensable  for 
practice  in  induction,  and  they  should  be  well  repre- 
sented in  a  course  of  study.  History,  in  which  man 
discovers  the  meaning  of  the  present  and  gains  wis- 
dom for  the  future,  which  is  a  potent  source  of  eth- 
ical thought,  must  not  be  omitted.  English  language, 
as  the  means  of  accurate,  vigorous,  and  beautiful 
expression,  and  English  literature,  which  is  the  treas- 
ury of  much  of  the  world's  best  thought,  are  not 
subjects  to  leave  to  the  election  of  the  pupil. 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION :   A   REVIEW.  6/ 

In  addition  to  the  training  in  observation,  mem- 
ory, expression,  and  inductive  reasoning  which  most 
studies  offer,  we  must  consider  the  development  of 
imagination,  right  emotion,  and  right  will.  In  other 
words,  aesthetic  and  ethical  training  is  most  essen- 
tial. Secondary  schools  need  not  employ  formal 
courses  of  study  to  this  end,  but  various  means  may 
be  employed  incidentally.  There  are  a  hundred 
ways  in  which  taste  may  be  cultivated,  and  literature 
is  one  of  the  best  means  for  developing  the  art  idea. 
Moral  character  is  developed  by  right  habit,  by  the 
right  use  of  the  powers  in  the  process  of  education, 
by  growth  in  knowledge  of  ethical  principles,  by 
growth  of  the  spirit  of  reverence,  and  by  the  ethical 
code  of  religion.  All  of  these  means,  except  the 
formal  use  of  the  last,  may  be  employed  by  the 
schools.  And  the  ethical  element  is  inherent  in  the 
very  nature  of  right  education.  To  educate  rightly 
is  to  educate  ethically.  History,  biography,  and  lit- 
erature make  direct  contributions  to  ethical  knowl- 
edge. 

We  now  reach  the  study  of  foreign  classical  tongues. 
If  there  is  nothing  more  than  formal  training,  for  in- 
stance, in  Latin,  the  sooner  we  abandon  its  study 
the  better.  But  we  find  in  it  also  a  valuable  con- 
tent. In  the  process  of  development  some  phases 
of  human  possibility  seem  to  have  been  almost  fully 
realized,  while  the  world  has  continued  to  develop 
along  other  lines.  In  such  cases  we  must  go  back 
and  fill  our  minds  with  the  concepts  that  belong  to 
the  remote  period.  The  Greek  and  Latin  classics 
give  us  an  insight  into  the  character  of  ancient  peo- 
ples and  their  institutions,  give  us  the  concepts  of 
their  civilizations,  the   beauty  of   their   literatures, 


68  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

and  make  a  practical  contribution  to  the  knowledge 
of  our  own  language.  From  the  foreign  modern 
tongues,  German  may  be  chosen  because  of  its  valu- 
able literature,  its  contributions  to  science,  its  dignity, 
and  its  relation  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  element  of  our 
own  language. 

We  have  endeavored  to  show  that  the  choice  of 
studies  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference,  that  mathe- 
matics, science,  history,  language  and  literature,  and 
art  and  ethics  all  belong  to  the  period  of  secondary 
education  ;  and  we  have  tried  to  suggest  the  infer- 
ence that  all  should  be  employed.  The  relative  im- 
portance of  each  cannot  be  exactly  measured,  but 
experience  and  reason  must  guide  us. 


EDUCATIONAL  VALUES. 

We  estimate  a  man's  worth  by  his  intellectual 
grasp,  his  aesthetic  and  ethical  insight,  and  his  power 
for  action  toward  right  and  useful  ends.  If  these 
characteristics  make  the  ideal  man,  they  should  be 
the  ideal  aim  of  education,  and  a  study  is  to  be 
valued  as  it  best  contributes  toward  developing 
them.  The  same  test  of  efficiency  is  to  be  appHed 
to  the  whole  curriculum  of  a  school  period. 

There  is  a  correlation  between  the  field  of  knowl- 
edge and  the  knowing  being.  The  objective  world, 
with  its  varied  content,  answers  to  the  mind  with  its 
varied  powers.  It  is  through  the  objective  world  of 
nature  and  of  man  that  the  subject  comes  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  himself.  Each  important  phase  of  the 
objective  world  makes  a  distinct  contribution  in  ex- 
tent or  kind  of  knowledge  to  that  consciousness. 
We  do  not  live  in  a  world  where  cucumbers  grow  on 
trees,  or  where  human  beings  fail  in  their  ever-recur- 
ring characteristics;  and  we  believe  it  possible  to 
discover  the  kind  of  value  which  each  source  of 
knowledge  may  furnish  toward  the  education  of  the 
child,  with  the  expectation  that  we  shall  not  find  the 
choice  of  studies  to  be  a  matter  of  indifference. 

Without  laying  claim  to  a  best  analysis,  we  may 
use  a  customary  division  of  the  field  of  knowledge : 
(i)  mathematical  relations,  (2)  natural  phenomena, 


70  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

(3)  human  action,  (4)  human  thought,  (5)  aesthetic 
and  ethical  quahties.  The  studies  corresponding  are 
(i)  mathematics,  (2)  natural  science,  (3)  history,  (4) 
language  and  literature,  (5)  art  and  ethics.  Mathe- 
matics treats  of  quantitative  knowledge,  furnishes  a 
peculiar  intellectual  training,  and  makes  possible  all 
commerce,  all  great  structures,  and  the  higher  de- 
velopments of  physical  science.  Natural  science 
acquaints  us  with  the  field  of  physical  phenomena 
and  of  plant  and  animal  life,  is  the  best  training  in 
induction,  and  is  largely  the  basis  of  our  material 
civiHzation.  History  reveals  the  individual  and  our 
present  civilization  in  the  light  of  all  human  action, 
is  a  source  of  ethical  training,  and  has  high  practical 
value  for  the  problems  of  government  and  society. 
Literature  reveals  the  ideal  thought  and  the  specu- 
lations of  men,  gives  aesthetic  and  ethical  culture, 
and  in  a  practical  way  applies  poetry  to  life.  Art 
and  ethics  deal  with  distinct  types  of  knowledge,  cul- 
tivate the  higher  emotional  powers,  and,  like  ideal 
literature,  set  up  standards  of  perfection  in  execu- 
tion and  in  conduct  of  life. 

The  world  in  which  we  live  is  the  world  we  are  to 
know  in  order  to  adapt  ourselves  to  it  in  thought, 
the  world  we  are  to  know  in  order  to  gain  power  to 
work  therein  with  success,  the  world  we  are  to  know 
as  representing  the  thought  of  the  Creator  and  the 
correlated  nature  of  man,  the  world  we  are  to  know 
to  gain  the  soul's  highest  realization,  and,  for  these 
ends,  to  know  in  its  various  phases.  Each  depart- 
ment of  study  makes  its  own  peculiar  contribution 
to  knowledge,  each  has  its  peculiar  fitness  for  devel- 
oping some  given  power  of  the  mind,  each  makes  its 
own  contribution  in  preparing  the  individual  for  the 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUES,  yi 

practical  world.  In  three  distinct  ways  does  each 
subject  have  a  peculiar  value — for  knowledge,  for 
power,  for  practical  life. 

While  a  classification  of  studies  without  cross 
divisions  is  impossible,  we  may  say  that  the  first  four 
groups  give  us  the  power  of  knowledge  for  action ; 
the  fifth,  the  feeling  for  perfection  of  action  and 
rightness  of  action  ;  and  these,  in  their  exercise  and 
their  tendency,  create  the  right  kind  of  power  in 
action. 

Can  the  exact  absolute  and  relative  value  of  each 
line  of  study  be  determined  ?  No ;  but  we  may 
make  approximate  estimates  through  philosophical 
study  of  the  relation  of  the  mind  to  the  world, 
through  the  history  of  education  and  the  experience 
of  practical  teachers.  Every  position  is  tentative 
and  subject  to  constant  readjustment,  with  a  closer 
approach  to  truth.  A  reinvestigation  of  many  prob- 
lems through  careful  observation  of  children  will 
doubtless  make  an  important  contribution  to  knowl- 
edge of  values,  if  the  experiments  are  conducted 
with  a  wisdom  that  takes  them  out  of  the  realm  of 
fads,  and  if  the  greatest  thinkers  are  not  given  a 
seat  too  far  back.  Important  as  this  kind  of  inves- 
tigation is,  extreme  advocates  may  undervalue  the 
store  of  educational  philosophy  that  has  become 
common  property.  From  Cain  and  Abel  down,  the 
child  has  always  been  the  observed  of  all  observers ; 
the  adult  man  recognizes  the  nature  of  the  child  in 
his  own  nature,  and  has  recollections  of  many  of  his 
first  conscious  experiences.  From  the  time  of  the 
early  philosophers,  the  data  have  been  sufficient  to 
discover  universal  truths.  Child  study  serves,  not 
so  much  to   establish   principles,  as    to   bring   the 


72 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


teacher's  mind  in  close  sympathy  with  the  Hfe  of 
the  child,  in  order  to  observe  carefully  facts  for 
the  application  of  principles. 

In  an  ideal  course  of  general  training,  can  there  be, 
in  any  exact  meaning,  an  equivalence  of  studies  ?  As 
well  ask  whether  one  sense  can  do  the  work  of  another 
sense  in  reveaHng  the  world  to  the  mind.  To  be  sure, 
the  fundamental  conceptions  of  the  material  world 
can  be  obtained  through  the  sense  of  touch  alone ; 
but  we  also  attach  importance  to  the  revelations  of 
sight  and  hearing,  and  these  revelations  have  a  differ- 
ent quality.  He  who  lacks  these  other  senses  is  de- 
fective in  sources  of  soul  development.  So  he  who 
neglects  important  fields  of  knowledge  lacks  some- 
thing that  is  peculiar  to  them.  Each  study  helps 
every  other,  and  before  special  training  begins  each  is 
to  be  used,  up  to  the  time  when  the  student  becomes 
conscious  of  its  meaning.  By  contact  with  nature 
and  society,  the  child,  before  the  school  period,  gets 
an  all-around  education.  He  distinguishes  numeri- 
cally, observes  natural  phenomena,  notes  the  deeds  of 
his  fellows,  gains  the  thoughts  of  others,  and  begins 
to  perceive  the  qualities  of  beauty  and  right.  The 
kindergarten  promotes  all  lines  of  growth ;  the  pri- 
mary school  continues  them.  Shall  the  secondary 
school  be  open  to  broad  election  ?  At  a  time  when 
some  educators  of  strong  influence  are  proclaiming 
the  formal  theory  of  education,  that  power,  without 
reference  to  content,  is  the  aim  of  study,  and  some 
universities  encourage  a  wide  choice  of  equivalents 
in  preparation  for  admission,  and  the  homes  yield  to 
the  solicitation  of  pupils  to  omit  difficult  subjects,  it 
is  important  to  answer  the  question  in  the  light  of  the 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUES.  73 

previous  analysis.  And  we  say  no,  for  the  simple 
reasons  that  not  until  the  secondary  period  can  the 
meaning  of  the  various  departments  of  knowledge  be 
brought  within  the  conscious  understanding,  not 
until  then  are  the  various  powers  developed  to  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  conscious  strength,  not  until  then 
has  the  natural  bent  of  the  student  been  fairly  tested. 
In  this  period  one  would  hardly  advocate  the  exclu- 
sive study,  for  instance,  of  history  to  the  entire  neg- 
lect of  mathematics  and  physics ;  nor  would  he  ad- 
vocate the  choice  of  mathematics  to  the  entire  neglect 
of  history  and  literature. 

The  question  of  college  electives  is  to  an  extent  an 
open  one.  But  it  is  clear  that  when  general  educa- 
tion ends,  special  education  should  begin,  and  that 
indiscriminate  choice  of  studies  without  purpose  is 
no  substitute,  either  for  a  fixed  curriculum  or  for 
group  election  in  a  special  line.  We  may  fully  ap- 
prove the  freedom  of  modern  university  education, 
but  not  its  license.  Its  freedom  gives  the  opportu- 
nity to  choose  special  and  fitting  lines  of  work  for  a 
definite  purpose ;  its  license  leads  to  evasion  and 
dilettanteism.  We  hear  of  a  senior  who  took  for  his 
electives  Spanish,  French,  and  lectures  in  music  and 
art,  not  because  they  were  strong  courses  in  the  line 
of  his  tastes  and  tendencies,  but  because  they  were 
the  lines  of  least  resistance.  There  appears  to  be  a 
reactionary  tendency  toward  a  more  careful  guarding 
of  college  electives,  together  with  a  shortening  of  the 
college  course,  in  order  that  genuine  university  work 
may  begin  sooner.  If  this  tendency  prevails,  it  will 
become  possible  to  build  all  professional  and  other 
university  courses  upon  a  substantial  foundation,  and 
we  shall   no  longer   see  law  and  medical  students 


74 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


entering  for  a  degree  upon  the  basis  of  a  grammar- 
school  preparation. 

The  opportunity  to  specialize,  which  is  the  real 
value  of  college  election,  is  necessary  even  for  general 
education.  To  know  all  subjects  one  must  know  one 
subject.  The  deepening  of  one  kind  of  knowledge 
deepens  all  knowledge.  The  strengthening  of  power 
in  one  direction  strengthens  the  whole  man.  An 
education  is  not  complete  until  one  is  fairly  master 
of  some  one  subject,  which  he  may  employ  for  enjoy- 
ment, for  instruction,  and  for  use  in  the  world  of 
practical  activity.  Here  we  reach  the  ultimate  con- 
sideration on  the  intellectual  side  in  estimating  edu- 
cational values. 

We  who  are  sometimes  called  conservative  know 
that  we  have  before  us  new  problems  or  a  reconsid- 
eration of  old  problems.  We  believe  the  trend  of 
educational  thought  is  right,  however  some  may  for  a 
time  wander  in  strange  paths.  We  know  that  mental 
capacity,  health,  time,  money,  home  obligations, 
proposed  occupation,  and  even  deviation  from  the 
normal  type  are  all  to  be  considered  in  planning  the 
education  of  a  pupil.  But  the  deviations  from  ideal 
courses  and  standards  should  be  made  with  ideals  in 
view,  a  different  proposition  from  denying  the  exist- 
ence or  possibility  of  ideals.  We  know  that  the  mind 
is  a  unit-being  and  a  self-activity,  that  it  develops  as 
a  whole,  that  there  are  no  entities  called  faculties. 
But  suppose  the  various  psychical  activities  had  never 
been  classified,  as  they  now  are,  in  accordance  with 
the  facts  of  consciousness,  the  usage  of  language  and 
literature,  and  the  convenience  of  psychology,  what 
a  herald  of  fresh  progress  would  he  be  who  would 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUES.  75 

first  present  mental  science  in  clear  groupings !  We 
may  call  the  world  one,  but  it  has  many  phases ;  the 
mind  is  one,  but  it  has  many  phases ;  these  are  more 
or  less  correlated,  and  our  theory  of  educational  values 
stands.  We  know  that  interest  is  the  sine  qua  non 
of  success  in  education,  and  nothing  is  more  benefi- 
cent than  the  emphasis  given  this  fact  to-day.  We 
also  know  that  pleasure  is  not  the  only,  not  even 
the  most  valuable,  interest ;  and  that  the  disa- 
greeable character  of  a  study  is  not  always  a  cri- 
terion for  its  rejection.  The  pleasure  theory  will 
hardly  overcome  the  importance  of  a  symmetrical 
education. 

In  regard  to  some  things,  however,  some  of  us 
must  be  permitted  to  move  slowly.  We  must  use  the 
principle  of  "  apperception,"  and  interpret  the  new 
in  the  light  of  that  which  has  for  a  long  time  been 
familiar — attach  it  to  the  **  apperception  mass  "  ;  we 
must  be  indulged  in  our  right  to  use  the  "  culture- 
epoch  "  theory  and  advance  by  degrees  from  the 
barbaric  stage  to  that  of  deeper  insight ;  we  must 
"  concentrate  "  (concentre)  with  established  doctrines 
other  doctrines  that  present  large  claims,  and  learn 
their  "  correlations  '*  and  "  coordinations." 

A  new  object  or  idea  must  be  related  to  and  ex- 
plained by  the  knowledge  already  in  mind ;  it  must 
be  so  placed  and  known,  or  it  is  not  an  idea  for  us. 
If  "  apperception  "  means  the  act  of  explaining  a  new 
idea  by  the  whole  conscious  content  of  the  child's 
mind,  then  it  is  the  recognized  process  of  all  mental 
growth.  In  a  given  study,  topics  must  be  arranged 
in  logical  order,  facts  must  be  so  organized  as  to  con- 
stitute a  consistent  whole  ;  important  relations  with 
other  studies  must  be  noted,  and  one  subject  must 


^6  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

be  made  to  help  another  as  opportunity  arises.  If 
**  correlation  "  means  to  unite  and  make  clear  parts 
of  subjects  and  subjects  by  discovery  of  valuable 
mutual  relations,  then  it  is  a  vital  principle  of  all  good 
teaching.  Studies,  while  preserving  their  integrity, 
must  be  adjusted  to  each  other  in  time  and  sequence 
so  that  a  harmonious  result  may  be  produced.  If 
"  coordination  "  means  the  harmonious  adjustment  of 
the  independent  functions  of  departments  of  study, 
we  recognize  it  as  an  old  acquaintance. 

If  the  theory  of  "  culture-epochs  **  finds  a  parallel, 
in  order  of  development,  between  race  and  individual, 
and  throws  light  upon  the  selection  of  material  for 
each  stage  of  the  child's  growth,  then  let  the  theory 
be  used  for  all  it  is  worth.  Its  place,  however,  will 
be  a  subordinate  one.  Here  are  the  world  and  the 
present  civilization  by  means  of  which  the  child  is  to 
be  educated,  to  which  he  is  to  be  adjusted.  Select 
subjects  with  reference  to  nature  as  known  by  modern 
science,  with  reference  to  modern  civilization,  and 
the  hereditary  accumulation  of  power  in  the  child  to 
acquire  modern  conceptions. 

If  "  concentration  "  means  subordinating  all  other 
subjects  of  learning  to  a  primary  subject,  as  history 
or  literature,  which  is  to  be  used  as  a  centre  through- 
out the  elementary  period,  we  refuse  to  give  it  a 
place  as  an  important  method  in  education.  In- 
trinsically there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  primary  centre 
except  the  child  himself.  He  possesses  native  im- 
pulses that  reach  out  toward  the  field  of  knowledge, 
and  in  every  direction.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a 
child  to  be  without  varied  interests.  Did  you  ever 
see  a  boy  who  failed  to  enumerate  his  possessions, 
investigate  the  interior  of  his  automatic  toy,  delight 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUES.  y'j 

in  imaginative  tales,  applaud  mock-heroic  deeds,  and 
appreciate  beautiful  objects  and  right  action  ?  If  the 
child  lacks  normal  development  and  has  not  the  ap- 
perceiving  mind  for  the  various  departments  of 
knowledge,  create  new  centres  of  apperception  and 
interest,  cultivate  the  neglected  and  stunted  powers.. 
The  various  distinct  aspects  of  the  objective  world 
suggest  the  selection  of  studies ;  the  nature  of  the 
mind  suggests  the  manner  in  which  the  elements  of 
knowledge  are  to  be  organized.  The  parts  of  a  subject 
must  be  distinctly  known  before  they  are  correlated  ; 
subjects  must  be  distinctly  known  before  they  are 
viewed  in  a  system  of  philosophy.  Knowledge  is  not 
organized  by  artificial  associations,  but  by  observing 
the  well-known  laws  of  classification  and  reasoning. 
Moreover,  all  laws  of  thought  demand  that  a  subject 
be  developed  in  a  definite  and  continuous  way,  and 
that  side  illustration  be  employed  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  clearness.  In  practice  the  method  of  con- 
centration can  but  violate  this  principle. 

We  may  ask  whether  apperception,  correlation, 
coordination,  and  concentration  are  anything  but  a 
recognition  of  the  laws  of  association.  The  laws  of 
association  in  memory  are  nothing  but  the  law  of 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  as  all  good  psychology 
points  out.  These  laws  include  relations  of  time, 
place,  likeness,  analogy,  difference,  and  cause.  Add 
to  these  laws  logical  sequence  in  the  development  of 
a  subject,  and  you  have  all  the  principles  of  the 
methods  named.  Have  these  investigations  an  im- 
portant value?  Yes.  They  explain  and  emphasize 
pedagogical  truths  that  have  been  neglected.  Hav- 
ing performed  their  mission  and  having  added  to  the 
progress  of  educational  theory,  they  will  give  way 


78  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

to  new   investigations.     This   is    the   history  of   all 
progress. 

The  subject  of  interest  deserves  a  further  thought. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  all  a  man  thinks,  feels, 
and  does  centres  around  his  own  personality,  and,  in 
that  sense,  is  a  self-interest.  But  we  are  not  to  infer 
that,  therefore,  interest  must  be  pleasure.  We  are 
born  with  native  impulses  to  action,  impulses  that 
reach  out  in  benevolence  and  compassion  for  the 
good  of  others,  impulses  that  reach  out  toward  the 
truth  and  beauty  and  goodness  of  the  world,  without 
regard  to  pleasure  or  reward.  These  impulses  tend 
toward  the  perfection  of  our  being,  and  the  reward 
lies  in  that  perfection,  the  possession  of  a  strong  and 
noble  intellectual,  aesthetic,  and  ethical  character. 
The  work  of  the  teacher  is  to  invite  these  better 
tendencies  by  presenting  to  them  the  proper  objects 
for  their  exercise  in  the  world  of  truth,  beauty,  and 
right.  Interest  and  action  will  follow,  and,  later,  the 
satisfaction  that  attends  right  development.  When- 
ever this  spontaneous  interest  does  not  appear  and 
cannot  be  invited,  the  child  should  face  the  fact  that 
some  things  must  be,  because  they  are  required,  and 
are  for  his  good.  When  a  course  of  action  is  ob- 
viously the  best,  and  inclination  does  not  lead  the 
way,  duty  must  come  to  the  rescue. 

We  are  not  touching  this  matter  as  an  old  ethical 
controversy,  but  because  it  is  a  vital  practical  prob- 
lem of  to-day  in  education,  because  the  pleasure 
theory  is  bad  philosophy,  bad  psychology,  bad 
ethics,  bad  pedagogy,  a  caricature  of  man,  contrary 
to  our  consciousness  of  the  motives  of  even  our  or- 
dinary useful  acts,  a  theory  that  will  make  a  genera- 


EDUCATIONAL    VALUES, 


79 


tion  of  weaklings.  Evolution  does  not  claim  to 
show  that  pleasure  is  always  a  criterion  of  useful 
action.  Herbert  Spencer  in  his  *'  Ethics  "  says:  *'  In 
many  cases  pleasures  are  not  connected  with  actions 
which  must  be  performed  nor  pains  with  actions 
which  must  be  avoided,  but  contrariwise."  He  post- 
pones the  complete  coincidence  of  pleasure  with  ideal 
action  to  the  era  of  perfect  moralization.  We  await 
the  evolutionist's  millennium.  Much  harm  as  well 
as  much  good  has  been  done  in  the  name  of  Spencer 
by  well-meaning  teachers,  and  much  harm  has  been 
done  in  the  name  of  physiological  psychologists  ;  we 
would  avoid  a  misuse  of  their  noble  contributions  to 
educational  insight.  Listen  to  a  view  of  physiological 
psychology  with  reference  to  the  law  of  habit :  "  Do 
every  day  or  two  something  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  you  would  rather  not  do  it.  The  man  who  has 
daily  inured  himself  to  habits  of  concentrated  atten- 
tion, energetic  volition,  and  self-denial  in  unneces- 
sary things,  will  stand  like  a  tower  when  everything 
rocks  around  him  and  when  his  softer  fellow-mortals 
are  winnowed  like  chaff  in  the  blast."  The  fact  is, 
it  is  impossible  to  create  character,  energy,  and  suc- 
cess without  effort  that  is  often  painful.  This  view 
is  an  essential  part  of  our  theory  of  educational 
values. 


POWER   AS    RELATED    TO    KNOWLEDGE. 

Try  to  imagine  a  material  world  without  force — 
no  cohesion,  no  resistance,  no  gravitation,  no  sound, 
no  light,  no  sign  from  the  outward  world,  no  active 
mind  to  receive  a  sign.  Now  try  to  imagine  knowl- 
edge without  power,  a  mind  that  is  but  a  photo- 
graphic sheet — no  active  perception,  no  imagination, 
no  reflection  upon  ideas,  no  impulses  ending  in 
action.  On  the  other  hand,  mental  power  without 
knowledge  is  inconceivable.  One  without  knowledge 
is  in  the  condition  of  the  newly  born  infant. 

As  difficult  to  understand  as  the  relation  between 
matter  and  force,  between  spirit  and  body,  between 
thought  and  its  sign,  is  the  relation  between  knowl- 
edge and  power.  In  a  way  we  may  attempt  to  sepa- 
rate and  distinguish  between  them,  by  a  process  of 
emphasizing  the  one  or  the  other.  Knowledge,  in 
the  sense  of  information,  means  an  acquaintance  with 
nature  in  its  infinite  variety  of  kind,  form,  and  color, 
and  with  man  in  history  and  Hterature;  mental 
power  is  the  ability  to  gain  knowledge,  and  the  mo- 
tive to  use  it  for  growth  and  for  valuable  ends. 
Mere  knowledge  serenely  contemplates  nature  and 
history  as  a  panorama,  without  serious  reflection  or 
effort.  Power  is  able  to  reflect  upon  knowledge,  and 
to  find  motives  for  progress  and  useful  action. 
Knowledge  is  the  product  of  the  information  method ; 
power,  of  the  method  of  self-activity. 


POWER  AS  RELATED    TO  KNOWLEDGE.         8 1 

As  we  cannot  divorce  matter  and  force,  so  it  ap- 
pears we  cannot  clearly  separate  knowledge  and  men- 
tal power;  the  distinction  is  artificial  and  almost 
fanciful.  The  one  cannot  exist  without  the  other ; 
they  are  the  opposite  sides  of  the  shield.  Through 
knowledge  comes  power.  Knowledge  is  the  mate 
rial  for  reflection  and  action.  Knowledge,  as  it  were 
creates  the  mind,  and  is  both  the  source  of  power 
and  the  occasion  for  its  use. 


;l 


We  recall  the  familiar  caricature  of  the  Chinese 
lack  of  original  power.  A  merchant  negotiated  with 
a  Chinaman  for  the  manufacture  of  a  few  thousand 
plates  of  a  certain  pattern,  and  furnished  a  sample 
that  by  chance  was  cracked.  The  plates  arrived  in 
due  season,  admirably  imitating  the  original — and 
every  one  was  cracked.  No  need  in  this  instance  to 
employ  the  mandate  given  by  a  choleric  superin- 
tendent to  an  employee,  who  on  one  occasion  thought 
for  himself — "  I  have  told  you  repeatedly  you  have 
no  business  to  think  !  "  The  Chinese  character  may 
be  expressed  by  a  parody  on  a  familiar  stanza : 

For  they  are  the  same  their  fathers  have  been  ; 
They  see  the  same  sights  their  fathers  have  seen, 
They  drink  the  same  stream  and  view  the  same  sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  their  fathers  have  run. 

A  timorous  cow  gazing  wistfully  over  the  garden 
gate  at  the  forbidden  succulent  vegetables,  and  ner- 
vously rubbing  her  nose  by  accident  against  the 
latch,  may  open  the  gate  and  gain  an  entrance,  and 
afterward  repeat  the  process.  A  new  and  peculiar 
fastening  will  prevent  any  further  depredations.  An 
ingenious  boy  will  find  the  means  to  undo  any  kind 


82  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

of  unique  fastening  to  the  gate  that  bars  him  from 
the  watermelon  patch.  Charles  Lamb  humorously 
describes  how  the  Chinese  learned  to  eat  roast  pig. 
A  house  burned  and  the  family  pig  perished  in  the 
flames ;  a  disconsolate  group  of  people  stood  around 
viewing  the  ruins,  when  by  accident  one  touched 
the  pig  and,  burning  his  finger,  thrust  it  in  his  mouth 
to  cool  it ;  the  taste  was  good,  and  he  repeated  the 
the  process.  Soon  there  were  marvellously  frequent 
conflagrations — all  the  neighbors  burned  their  houses 
to  roast  their  pigs,  that  being  the  only  method  they 
had  learned. 

From  these  somewhat  trivial  illustrations,  we  may 
readily  draw  a  few  inferences :  First,  ingenuity  of 
mind  for  novel  conditions  distinguishes  man  from 
the  brutes ;  second,  the  Chinese  method  of  educa- 
tion emphasizes  too  much  the  information  side — it  is 
not  good ;  third,  the  human  mind  is  ingenious  when 
it  is  rightly  educated  and  has  a  strong  motive ; 
fourth,  ingenuity  is  the  power  that  should  grow  from 
education.  In  this  idea — ingenuity  of  mind — is  the 
very  essence  of  what  we  mean  when  we  emphasize 
the  power  side  of  the  soul. 

The  problem  of  education  is  to  make  men  think. 
Tradition,  authority,  formalism  have  not  the  place 
in  education  which  they  formerly  occupied.  May  it 
not  be  that  we  have  so  analyzed  and  formulated  the 
work  of  the  schools  that  formalism  and  method  have 
somewhat  taken  the  place  of  genuine  work,  full  of 
the  life  and  spirit  that  make  power  ?  We  may  dis- 
cover that  the  criticisms  from  certain  high  sources 
have  an  element  of  truth  in  them.  A  certain  routine 
may  easily  become  a  sacred  code,  a  law  of  the  tables, 
and  any  variation  therefrom  an  impiety. 


POWER  AS  RELATED    TO  KNOWLEDGE.        83 

A  person  possesses  power  when  his  conception 
ploughs  through  the  unfurrowed  tissue  of  his  brain 
to  seek  its  proper  affinity,  and  unites  with  it  to  form 
a  correct  judgment.  A  person  who  is  merely  in- 
structed does  not  construct  new  lines  of  thought  to 
bring  ideas  into  novel  relations ;  he  does  not  origi- 
nate or  progress.  An  original  thinker  masses  all  con- 
gruous ideas  around  a  dimly  conceived  notion  and 
there  is  a  new  birth  of  an  idea,  a  genuine  child  of/ 
the  brain.  His  ingenuity  will  open  a  gate  or  con- 
struct a  philosophical  system. 

Every  student  remembers  well  the  stages  in  his 
education  when  there  was  a  new  awakening  by 
methods  that  invited  thought,  when  a  power  was 
gained  to  conceive  and  do  something  not  stated  in 
the  books  or  imparted  by  the  teacher.  In  the  schools, 
even  of  to-day,  teachers  are  not  always  found  who 
can  impart  elementary  science  in  the  spirit  of  sci- 
ence, who  can  successfully  invite  speculation  as  to 
causes,  who  can  teach  accurate  perception,  who  can 
interpret  events  in  history,  train  pupils  in  the  use  of 
reference  books,  or  invite  original  thought  in  mathe- 
matics. There  is  no  high  school  which  does  not 
yearly  receive  pupils  not  trained  in  original  power, 
no  college  which  does  not  annually  winnow  out  fresh- 
men, because  they  have  not  gained  the  power  to 
grapple  with  virile  methods.  The  defect  is  sometimes 
innate,  but  it  is  oftener  due  to  false  methods  of  in- 
struction. Our  great  problem  is  to  make  scholars 
who  are  not  hopeless  and  helpless  in  the  presence  of 
what  they  have  not  learned. 

The  plant  must  have  good  soil,  water  and  air  and/ 
sun,  care  and  pruning,  in  order  to  grow,  but  it  grows^ 
of  itself,  gains  strength  by  proper  nourishment.     The 


84  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

aggregation  of  material,  about  the  plant  does  not 
constitute  its  growth.  The  plant  must  assimilate; 
the  juices  of  life  must  flow  through  it. 

The  teacher  does  his  best  work  when  he  makes  all 
conditions  favorable  for  the  self-activity  of  the  pupil. 
Such  conditions  create  a  lively  interest  in  the  objects 
and  forces  of  nature,  invite  examination  of  facts  and 
discovery  of  relations,  arouse  the  imagination  to  con- 
ceive results,  awaken  query  and  reflection,  stimulate 
the  emotional  life  toward  worthy  and  energetic 
action,  and  make  the  pupil  ever  progressive. 

An  article  in  one  of  our  magazines  strongly  em- 
phasizes the  methods  that  make  power.  It  con- 
siders the  kind  of  training  that  finally  makes  accurate 
thinkers,  that  makes  original,  progressive  men,  men 
of  power,  and  safe  and  wise  citizens.  The  author 
/shows  that  clear  observation,  accurate  recording  of 
facts,  just  inference,  and  strong,  choice  expression 
are  most  important  ends  to  be  attained  by  the  work 
of  the  schools,  and  that  these  ends  become  the 
means  for  correcting  all  sorts  of  unjust,  illogical  con- 
clusions as  to  politics  and  morals. 

There  is  much  profound  thought  in  the  view  main- 
tained. Unjust  inferences,  fallacies,  are  nearly  the 
sum  of  the  world's  social  and  political  evils.  False 
ideas  are  held  as  true  concerning  all  sorts  of  current 
problems — notions  that  take  possession  of  men's 
minds  without  logical  reflection.  The  fallacy  of  con- 
founding sequence  with  cause  is  almost  universal. 
All  kinds  of  subjective  and  objective  duties  suffer 
from  illogical  minds. 

To  correct  many  errors  and  evils,  to  make  think- 
ing, useful  men,  we  must  emphasize  the  processes 


V 


POWER  AS  RELATED    TO  KNOWLEDGE.         8$ 

recommended :  (i)  observation,  (2)  faithful  record- 
ing, (3)  just  inference,  (4)  satisfactory  expression. 

The  author  shows  wherein  the  work  of  the  grades 
fails  to  give  the  desired  results.  He  holds  that 
arithmetic,  so  emphasized,  contributes  nothing  be- 
cause it  employs  necessary  reasoning,  and  does  not 
give  practice  in  inference  from  observation  and  ex- 
perience, a  process  which  develops  scientific  judg- 
ment. Inductive  reasoning  alone  can  give  scientific 
power.  Reading,  writing,  spelling,  geography  as 
usually  taught,  contribute  but  little ;  grammar  does 
not  add  much. 

For  invention,  for  correct  estimates  of  the  probf 
lems  of  society,  government,  and  morals,  the  origii 
nal  power  of  inference  from  observed  facts  is  neces- 
sary. It  is  asked  :  Do  our  schools  give  this  power 
to  a  satisfactory  and  attainable  degree  ?  It  is  claimed 
in  the  article  that  the  high  schools  and  colleges  fail 
more  or  less,  because  so  much  time  is  given  to  mem- 
ory work  and  formulated  results.  In  the  high  schools 
the  work  to  be  most  emphasized  is  not  chosen  with 
discrimination.  The  courses  include  too  many  stud- 
ies, not  well  done.  There  should  be  fewer  studies 
so  pursued  as  to  give  power. 

May  it  not  be  well  to  make  the  inquiry  in  all 
grades  as  to  what  proportion  of  the  work  contributes 
toward  the  final  result  of  accurate  reflection  upon 
the  world  of  facts.  Let  us  again  repeat  the  author's 
list  in  logical  order:  (i)  observation,  (2)  recording, 
as  in  noting  experiments,  (3)  inference,  (4)  expression. 

President  Eliot's  paper  here  referred  to  admirably 
emphasizes  the  methods  that  make  power.  Perhaps 
the  author  gives  too  little  importance  to  knowledge 
as  the  basis  of  power,  and  fails  to  emphasize  the 


86  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

aesthetic  power  and  the  value  of  ideals.  It  is  true 
that  poetry  implies  accurate  observation,  fine  dis- 
crimination, discovery  of  just  relations,  and  true  in- 
sight, but  it  is  equally  true  that  science  study  does 
not  make  poets. 

The  times  have  changed.  The  old  idea  of  the 
scholar  was  of  one  who,  in  the  serene  contemplation 
of  truth,  beauty,  and  goodness,  found  a  never-fail- 
ing source  of  delight  for  himself,  and  felt  little  obli- 
gation to  the  world  that  sustained  him,  or  the  social 
environment  that  nurtured  and  humanized  him. 
The  devotion  to  truth  for  its  own  sake,  the  love  of 
nature  in  repose,  the  admiration  of  great  deeds, 
fine  sentiments  and  noble  thoughts,  were  for  him 
sufficient,  as  if  he  were  isolated  in  a  world  of  his 
own.  We  do  not  depreciate  such  interest,  for  life  is 
worth  nothing  without  it.  But  there  is  a  demand 
for  action,  a  call  to  externalize  the  power  of  one's 
being.  Each  man  is  a  part  of  the  all,  from  eternity 
destined  to  be  a  factor  in  the  progress  of  all.  The 
thoughts  and  impulses  that  evaporate  and  accom- 
plish nothing  are  not  of  much  more  value  to  the  in- 
dividual than  to  his  neighbor.  "  Do  something  "  is 
the  command  alike  of  religion  and  of  the  nature  of 
our  physical  being.  Every  sentiment  and  idea  that 
leads  to  action  forms  a  habit  in  the  mysterious  inner 
chambers  of  our  nervous  system  for  action,  and  we 
gain  in  power,  grow  in  mental  stature,  day  by  day. 

Power  comes  through  knowledge.  There  may  be 
too  great  a  tendency  to  emphasize  power  to  the  loss 
of  that  knowledge  necessary  to  marshal  in  one  field 
of  view  the  necessary  facts.     Imagine  a  judge  trying 


POWER  AS  RELATED    TO  KNOWLEDGE.        8/ 

to  reach  a  decision  without  the  points  in  evidence 
before  his  mind ;  a  statesman  that  would  interpret 
current  events  without  a  knowledge  of  history ;  an 
investigator  in  science  who  had  not  before  him  the 
results  of  the  investigations  of  others. 

Ideally,  knowledge  should  be  varied  and  compre- 
hensive ;  it  should  cover,  at  least  in  an  elementary 
way,  the  entire  field  of  nature  and  of  man.  Then 
only  is  the  student  best  prepared  for  his  life  work,  if 
he  would  make  the  most  of  it.  A  man  lost  in  a  for- 
est directs  not  his  steps  wisely ;  when  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  his  surroundings,  he  moves  forward 
with  confidence.  One  who  has  trained  all  the  mus- 
cles of  his  body  delivers  a  blow  with  vigor.  One 
who  has  trained  all  the  powers  of  his  mind  summons 
to  his  aid  the  energy  of  all,  when  he  acts  in  a  given 
direction.  His  knowledge  is  the  light  thrown  on  his 
endeavor. 

This  view  is  opposed  to  the  extreme  doctrine  that 
knowledge  is  of  little  value.  Knowledge  is  necessary 
to  power ;  the  abuse  lies  in  not  making  it  the  basis  of 
power. 

This  theory  also  militates  strongly  against  the 
position  that  a  student  should  specialize  at  too  early 
a  period,  before  he  has  traversed  in  an  elementary 
way  the  circle  of  studies  and  gained  a  harmonized 
general  development. 

The  discussion  of  a  growing  fallacy  naturally  ap- 
pears in  this  place,  that  it  makes  no  difference  what 
knowledge  is  used  provided  it  gives  power.  It  does 
make  a  difference  whether  one  gains  power  in  deci- 
phering an  ancient  inscription  in  hieroglyphics,  or 
gains  it  by  studying  a  language  which  contains  the 
generic  concepts  of  our  native  tongue,  or  in  pursuing 


88  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

a  scientific  study  which  acquaints  him  with  the  laws 
of  nature's  forces.  In  the  one  case,  while  the  power 
is  great,  the  knowledge  is  small ;  in  the  other,  an 
essential  view  of  the  thought  of  mankind  or  of  the 
nature  of  the  world  in  which  we  live  is  gained,  and 
the  knowledge  is  broadly  useful  for  various  exercise 
of  power. 

Another  fallacy  is  the  doctrine  that  actual  execu- 
tion in  practical  ways  alone  gives  power.  It  may 
give  ready  specific  power  of  a  limited  kind,  but  it 
may  leave  the  man  childlike  and  helpless  in  the 
presence  of  anything  but  his  specialty. 

Here  we  find  an  argument  for  higher  education,  for 
an  accumulation  of  knowledge  and  power  that  comes 
through  prolonged  labor  in  the  field  of  learning, 
under  wise  guidance  and  through  self-effort.  Many 
a  youth,  through  limited  capacity,  limited  time  and 
means,  must  begin  special  education  before  he  has 
laid  a  broad  foundation,  but  this  is  not  the  ideal 
method.  The  true  teacher  will  always  hold  the 
highest  ideals  before  the  pupils,  will  guide  them  in 
the  path  of  general  education,  until  that  education 
becomes  what  is  called  liberal.  The  broad-minded 
men  who  conduct  schools  for  special  education  are 
strong  advocates  of  the  highest  degree  of  general 
training  as  a  foundation. 

Four  years  of  college  life,  with  the  methods  of  to- 
day, more  than  quadruple  the  capital  of  the  graduate 
of  the  secondary  school.  They  broaden  the  field  of 
knowledge,  and  enlarge  the  capacity  for  doing.  The 
world  is  full  of  demands  for  men  of  knowledge  and 
power.  There  is  to-day  a  lack  of  men  sufficiently 
equipped  in  knowledge,  power,  and  character  to  take 
the  direction,  for  instance,  of  important  college  de- 


POWER   AS  RELATED    TO  KNOWLEDGE. 


89 


partments.  Men  of  power  and  skill  are  in  demand 
everywhere,  and  not  enough  can  be  found  for  re- 
sponsible positions.  One  half  the  fault  is  insufficient 
education. 

There  is  another  phase  of  power  that  must  not  be 
neglected,  the  power  to  enjoy,  to  be  rich  in 
emotional  life.  Knowledge,  properly  pursued,  is  a 
source  of  rich  and  refined  intellectual  emotions. 
There  is  joy  in  discovery,  joy  in  the  freedom  and 
grasp  of  thought. 

Esthetic  power,  based  upon  fine  discrimination, 
finds  a  perpetual  joy  in  sky  and  sea,  and  mountain 
and  forest,  in  music  and  poetry,  in  sentiment  and 
song.*  Our  Teutonic  ancestors  were  better  seers  than 
we.  The  morning  sun  and  the  midnight  darkness 
were  perpetually  to  them  a  new  birth.  The  leaves 
whispered  to  them  divine  messages ;  the  storms  and 
the  seasons,  the  fruitful  earth,  were  full  of  wonder 
and  sacred  mysteries.  They  were  poets.  This 
matter-of-fact  age  will  yet  return  to  the  primitive 
regard  for  nature,  a  regard  enlightened  and  refined 
by  science.  Men  will  yet  find  in  the  most  common- 
place fact  of  nature  mystery,  poetry,  ground  for 
reverence,  and  faith  in  a  God. 

The  power  of  enjoyment  alone  does  not  give  a 
fruitful  life.  It  is  in  the  moment  of  action  that  we 
gain  the  habit  that  makes  power  for  action.  As  a 
philosopher  recently  expressed  it :  Do  not  allow 
your  finer  emotions  to  evaporate  without  finding 
expression  in  some  useful  act,  if  it  is  nothing  but 
speaking  kindly  to  your  grandmother,  or  giving  up 
your  seat  in  a  horse  car. 

There  has  been  a  weak  and  harmful  philosophy  in 


go 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


vogue  for  years  that  would  place  the  natural  and  the 
useful  in  the  line  of  the  agreeable.  Even  extreme 
evolution  fails  signally  to  show  that  the  agreeable  is 
always  teleological,  that  is,  always  directed  toward 
useful  ends.  The  latest  teaching  of  physiological 
psychology  takes  us  back  to  the  stern  philosophy  of 
the  self-denying  Puritan,  and  shows  that  we  must  con- 
quer our  habitual  inclinations,  and  encounter  some  dis- 
agreeable duty  every  day  to  prepare  for  the  emergen- 
cies that  demand  men  of  stern  stuff.  George  Eliot 
proclaims  the  same  thought  with  philosophical  in- 
sight, that  we  are  not  to  wait  for  great  opportunities 
for  glory,  but  by  daily,  drudging  performance  of 
little  duties  are  to  get  ready  for  the  arrival  of  the 
great  opportunities.  We  must  prepare  for  our  eagle 
flights  by  many  feeble  attempts  of  our  untried 
pinions. 

If  one  but  work,  no  matter  in  what  line  of  higher 
scholastic  pursuit,  he  will  in  a  few  years  waken  to  a 
consciousness  of  power  that  makes  him  one  of  the 
leaders.  There  is  every  encouragement  to  the 
student  to  persevere,  in  the  certain  assurance  that 
sooner  or  later  he  will  reach  attainments  beyond  his 
present  clear  conception. 

Our  inheritance  is  a  glorious  one.  The  character 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons  is  seen  throughout  their  history. 
Amid  the  clash  of  weapons  they  fought  with  a  fierce 
energy  and  a  strange  delight.  They  rode  the 
mighty  billows  and  sang  heroic  songs  with  the  wild 
joy  of  the  sea  fowl.  Later  we  find  them  contend- 
ing earnestly  for  their  beliefs.  Then  they  grew  into 
the  Puritan  sternness  of  character,  abounding  in  the 
sense  of  duty.  Their  character  has  made  them  the 
leaders  and  conquerors  of  the  world.     It  finds  ex- 


POWER  AS  RELATED    TO  KNOWLEDGE. 


91 


pression  in  the  progress  and  influence  of  America. 
This  energy  has  gradually  become  more  and  more 
refined  and  humanized,  and,  in  its  highest  and  best 
form,  it  is  the  heritage  of  every  young  man ;  and  by 
the  pride  of  ancestry,  by  the  character  inherited,  by 
the  opportunity  of  his  age,  he  is  called  upon  to  wield 
strongly  the  weapon  of  Thor  and  hammer  out  his 
destiny  with  strong  heart  and  earnest  purpose. 


MORAL  TRAINING. 

We  shall  not  discuss  the  philosophical  systems 
which  underlie  ethical  theories,  nor  the  theories 
themselves  which  consider  the  nature  of  the  moral 
sense  and  the  supreme  aim  of  life,  but  shall  treat 
practical  ethics  as  a  part  of  didactics,  and  as  a  part 
of  that  unspoken  influence  which  should  be  the  con- 
stant ally  of  instruction.  It  is  not  the  purpose  to 
present  anything  new,  but  rather  to  give  confidence 
in  methods  that  are  well  known  and  are  successfully 
employed  by  skilful  and  devoted  teachers. 

The  formation  of  right  habits  is  the  first  step 
toward  good  character.  Aristotle  gives  this  fact 
special  emphasis.  Here  are  some  detached  sentences 
from  his  ethics :  "  Moral  virtue  is  the  outcome  of 
habit,  and,  accordingly,  its  name  is  derived  by  a 
slight  deflection  from  habit.  .  .  .  It  is  by  playing 
the  harp  that  both  good  and  bad  harpists  are  pro- 
duced, and  the  case  of  builders  and  all  artisans  is 
similar,  as  it  is  by  building  well  that  they  will  be 
good  builders,  and  by  building  badly  that  they  will 
be  bad  builders.  .  .  .  Accordingly,  the  difference 
between  one  training  of  the  habits  and  another,  from 
early  days,  is  not  a  light  matter,  but  is  serious  or  all- 
important."  Aristotle  here  expresses  a  truth  that 
has  become  one  of  the  tritest.  All  mental  disposi- 
tions are  strengthened  by  repetition.     We  learn  to 


MORAL    TRAINING. 


93 


observe  by  observing,  to  remember  by  exercising 
memory,  to  create  by  training  the  imagination,  \ 
to  reason  by  acts  of  inference.  Passions  grow  by 
indulgence  and  diminish  by  restraint ;  the  finer  ( 
emotions  gain  strength  by  use.  Courage,  endurance, 
firmness  are  established  by  frequently  facing  dangers 
and  difficulties.  By  practice,  disagreeable  acts  may 
become  a  pleasure. 

It  is  by  practice  that  the  mind  gets  possession  of 
the  body,  that  the  separate  movements  of  the  child 
become  correlated,  and  the  most  complex  acts  are 
performed  with  ease  and  accuracy.  Physiological  psy- 
chology has  confirmed  and  strengthened  the  doctrine 
of  habit.  The  functions  of  the  brain  and  mental 
actions  are  correlated.  A  nerve  tract  once  estab- 
lished in  the  brain,  and  action  along  that  line  recurs 
with  increasing  spontaneity.  New  lines  of  communi- 
cation are  formed  with  difficulty.  Each  physical  act 
controlled  by  lower  nerve  centres  leaves  a  tendency 
in  those  centres  to  repeat  the  act. 

The  inference  is  obvious  and  important.  What- 
ever we  wish  the  adult  man  to  be,  we  must  help  him 
to  become  by  early  practice.  Childhood  is  the 
period  when  tendencies  are  most  easily  established. 
The  mind  is  teachable  and  receives  impressions 
readily;  around  those  cluster  kindred  impressions, 
and  the  formation  of  character  is  already  begun. 
The  brain  and  other  nerve  centres  are  plastic,  and 
readily  act  in  any  manner  not  inconsistent  with  their 
natural  functions.  As  they  begin  they  tend  to  act 
thereafter. 

Dr.  Harris  called  attention  a  few  years  ago  to 
the  ethical  import  of  the  ordinary  requirements  and 
prohibitions  of  the  schoolroom.     Promptness,  obedi- 


94  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

ence,  silence,  respect,  right  positions  in  sitting  and 
standing,  regard  for  the  rights  of  others,  were  named 
as  helping  to  form  habits  that  would  make  the  child 
self-controlled  and  fit  him  to  live  in  society. 

Whatever  you  would  wish  the  child  to  do  and  be- 
come, that  let  him  practise.  We  learn  to  do,  not  by 
knowing,  but  by  knowing  and  then  doing.  Ethical 
teaching,  tales  of  heroic  deeds,  soul-stirring  fiction 
that  awakens  sympathetic  emotions  may  accomplish 
but  little,  unless  in  the  child's  early  life  regard  for 
the  right,  little  acts  of  heroism,  and  deeds  of 
sympathy  are  employed ;  unless  the  ideas  and  feel- 
ing find  expression  in  action,  and  so  become  a  part  of 
the  child's  power  and  tendency.  George  Eliot  would 
have  us  make  ready  for  great  deeds  by  constant  per- 
formance of  little  duties  at  hand. 

Right  habit  is  the  only  sure  foundation  for  charac- 
ter. Sudden  resolutions  to  change  the  tenor  of  life, 
sudden  conversion  from  an  evil  life  to  one  of  ideal 
goodness  are  usually  failures,  because  the  old  tend- 
encies will  hold  on  grimly  until  the  new  impulse, 
however  great,  has  gradually  evaporated.  To  pre- 
pare for  the  highest  moral  life  and  a  persevering 
religious  life,  early  habits  of  the  right  kind  are  the 
only  secure  foundation. 

The  teacher  may  have  confidence  in  the  value  of 
requiring  of  pupils  practice  in  self-restraint,  practice 
in  encountering  difficulties  that  demand  a  little  of 
courage,  a  little  even  of  heroism — and  each  day 
furnishes  opportunities.  Pleasure  may  not  always 
attend  their  efforts,  but  pleasure  will  come  soon 
enough  as  a  reward,  in  consciousness  of  strength  and 
of  noble  development.  Often  we  do  wrong  because  it 
is  pleasant,  and  avoid  the  right  because  it  is  painful. 


MORAL    TRAINING. 


95 


By  habit  we  come  to  find  pleasure  in  right  action, 
and  then  the  action  is  a  true  virtue  as  held  by  the 
Greek  philosophers.  Aristotle  remarks :  "  Hence  the 
importance  of  having  had  a  certain  training  from 
very  early  days,  as  Plato  says,  such  a  training  as  pro- 
duces pleasure  and  pain  at  the  right  objects  ;  for  this 
is  the  true  education." 

The  personality  of  the  teacher  is  a  potent  factor 
in  moral  education.  Perfection  is  not  expected  of 
the  teacher ;  none  ever  attained  it  except  the  Great 
Prototype.  All  that  we  can  say  of  the  best  man  is 
that  he  averages  high.  The  teacher  who  does  not 
possess  to  a  somewhat  marked  degree  some  quality 
eminently  worthy  of  imitation  will  hardly  be  of  the 
highest  value  in  his  profession.  I  remember  with 
gratitude  two  men,  each  of  whom  impressed  me  with 
a  noble  quality  that  made  an  important  contribution 
at  the  time  to  my  thought,  feeling,  action,  and 
growth.  The  ideal  of  one  was  action — energetic, 
persevering  action — and  he  was  a  notable  example 
of  his  ideal.  His  precept  without  his  example  would 
have  been  almost  valueless.  The  other  was  a  noble 
advocate  of  ideal  thought,  and  his  mind  was  always 
filled  with  the  highest  conceptions;  moreover,  in 
many  large  ways  he  exemplified  his  precept.  His 
acquaintance  was  worth  more  than  that  of  a  thousand 
others  who  are  satisfied  with  a  commonplace  view  of 
life. 

Minds  that  are  not  speculative,  are  not  ingenious 
and  creative,  will  hardly  make  their  own  ideals,  or 
even  be  taught  by  abstractions.  They  can,  however, 
readily  comprehend  the  living  embodiment  of  virtue, 
and  there  is  still  enough  of  our  ancestral  monkey 


96 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


imitativeness  remaining  to  give  high  value  to  ex- 
ample. 

And  it  is  important  that  the  influence  of  the 
teacher  shall  not  be  merely  a  personal  magnetism 
that  influences  only  when  it  is  present,  but  a  quality 
that  shall  command  respect  in  memory  and  help  to 
estabhsh  principles  of  conduct.  The  influence  should 
be  one  that  will  be  regarded  without  the  sanction  of 
the  personal  relation.  He  who  is  wholly  ruled  either 
by  fear  or  by  love  gains  no  power  of  self-control,  and 
will  be  at  a  loss  when  thrown  upon  his  own  respon- 
sibility in  the  world  of  conflict  and  temptations. 
Character  must  be  formed  by  habit  and  guided  by 
principle. 

The  world's  moral  heroes  are  few.  Since  they  can 
not  be  our  daily  companions,  we  turn  to  biography 
and  history,  that  their  personality  and  deeds  may  be 
painted  in  our  imagination.  Concrete  teaching  is 
adapted  to  children,  and  select  tales  of  great  and 
noble  men,  vivid  descriptions  of  deeds  worthy  of 
emulation  may  early  impress  their  minds  with  un- 
fading pictures  that  will  stand  as  archetypes  for 
their  future  character  and  conduct.  Hence  the  value 
of  mythology,  of  Bible  stories,  and  Plutarch. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  such  literature  should 
be  at  the  command  of  every  teacher,  and  there  is 
enough  adapted  to  every  grade  of  work.  Through- 
out the  period  of  formal  historic  study  important  use 
should  be  made  of  the  ethical  character  of  men  and 
events.  The  pupil  thus  fills  his  mind  with  examples 
from  which  he  may  draw  valuable  inferences,  and  with 
which  he  may  illustrate  principles  of  action.  The 
ethical  sense  is  developed  through  relations  of  the 


MORAL    TRAINING. 


97 


individual  to  society,  and  the  broader  the  scope  of 
vision,  the  more  just  will  be  the  estimate  of  human 
action. 

Ideal  literature,  the  better  class  of  fiction  and 
poetry,  which  not  only  reaches  the  intellect,  but 
touches  the  feeling  and  brings  the  motive  powers  in 
harmony  with  ideal  characters,  deeds,  and  aspira- 
tions, may  have  the  highest  value  in  forming  the 
ethical  life  of  the  pupil.  Here  is  presented  the  very 
essence  of  the  best  ideas  and  feelings  of  humanity — 
thoughts  that  burn,  emotions  of  divine  quality,  de- 
sires that  go  beyond  our  best  realizations,  acts  that 
are  heroic — all  painted  in  vivid  colors.  By  reading 
we  enter  into  the  life  of  greater  souls,  we  share  their 
aspirations,  we  make  their  treasure  our  own.  A 
large  share  of  the  moralization  of  the  world  is  done 
by  this  process  of  applying  poetry  to  life. 

There  is,  however,  one  important  caution.  There 
is  a  difference  between  sentiment  and  sentimentality. 
The  latter  weakens  the  mind  and  will ;  it  is  to  be 
avoided  as  slow  poison  that  will  finally  undermine  a 
strong  constitution.  There  must  be  a  certain  vigor 
in  ideal  sentiment  that  will  not  vanish  in  mawkish 
feeling,  but  will  give  tone  for  noble  action.  It  is  a 
question  whether  sentiment  that  sheds  tears,  and 
never,  in  consequence,  does  an  additional  praise- 
worthy act,  has  worth.  You  know  the  literature  that 
leaves  you  with  a  feeling  of  stupid  satiety,  and  you 
know  that  which  gives  you  the  feeling  of  strength  in 
your  limbs,  and  clearness  in  your  intellect,  and  earn- 
estness in  your  purpose,  and  determination  in  your 
will. 

Use  ideal  literature  from  the  earliest  school  days 
of  the  child ;  choose  it  with  a  wisdom  that  comes 


98 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


from  a  careful  analysis  of  the  subject  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  adaptation  of  a  particular  selection  to 
the  end  proposed.  And  when  you  reach  the  formal 
study  of  literature,  find  in  it  something  more  than 
dates,  events,  grammar,  and  rhetoric ;  find  in  it 
beauty,  truth,  goodness,  and  insight  that  will  expand 
the  mind  and  improve  character. 

There  is  much  truth  in  the  criticism  that  con- 
demns precept  without  example ;  the  two  go  to- 
gether, the  one  is  a  complement  of  the  other.  We 
act  in  response  to  ideas,  and  a  rule  of  action  clearly 
understood  and  adopted  will  often  be  applied  in  a 
hundred  specific  instances  that  fall  under  it.  A 
teacher  of  tact  and  skill  can  gain  the  interest  of 
children  to  know  the  meaning  and  understand  the 
application  of  many  rich  generalizations  from  human 
experiences  that  have  passed  into  proverbs.  The 
natural  result  of  conduct  which  we  condemn  may 
be  pointed  out,  with  often  a  noticeable  increase  of 
regard  for  duty  and  prudence.  We  may  not  ex- 
pect consistency  of  character,  firmness  of  purpose, 
rigid  observance  of  honesty,  truthfulness,  honor, 
and  sympathy  until  the  course  of  life  is  directed 
by  principles  that  have  taken  firm  hold  of  the 
mind. 

When  moral  instruction  in  school  passes  into  what 
the  boys  call  preaching,  the  zealous  teacher  often 
dulls  the  point  of  any  possible  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject, and  thereby  defeats  his  purpose.  Sometimes 
we,  in  our  feeling  of  responsibility,  trust  too  little  to 
the  better  instincts  of  childhood,  the  influence  of 
good  surroundings,  and  the  leavening  power  of  all 
good  work  in  the  regular  course  of  instruction. 


MORAL    TRAINING.  gg 

For  the  purpose  of  moral  instruction  in  the  schools 
we  should  take  the  broad  view  of  the  Greek  ethics. 
As  summed  up  by  Professor  Green  the  Good  Will 
aims  (i)  to  know  what  is  true  and  create  what  is 
beautiful ;  (2)  to  endure  pain  and  fear ;  (3)  to  resist 
the  allurements  of  false  pleasure ;  (4)  to  take  for 
one's  self  and  to  give  to  others,  not  what  one  is  in- 
clined to,  but  what  is  due.  This  is  larger  than  the 
conventional  moral  code.  It  makes  virtues  not  only 
of  justice  and  temperance,  but  of  courage  and  wis- 
dom. By  implication  it  condemns  cowardice  and 
lazy  ignorance.  It  urges  one  to  strive  for  the  reali- 
zation of  all  his  best  possibilities,  to  enlarge  his  pow- 
ers, his  usefulness,  and  aim  at  the  gradual  perfection 
of  his  being  through  the  worthy  use  of  all  his  en- 
ergies. It  does  not  dwell  morbidly  on  petty  dis- 
tinctions of  casuistry,  but  generously  expands  the  soul 
to  receive  wisdom,  the  wisdom  that  regards  all  good. 

We  are  creatures  of  numerous  native  impulses,  all 
useful  in  their  proper  exercise.  Each  impulse  is  sus- 
ceptible of  growth  until  it  becomes  predominant. 
The  lower  animals  follow  their  instincts.  Man  is 
rational,  has  the  power  to  discriminate,  to  estimate 
right  and  wrong,  to  educate  and  be  educated.  He 
is  called  upon  to  subordinate  some  impulses  and  to 
cultivate  others.  The  child  is  full  of  power  of  ac- 
tion, and  it  must  be  exercised  in  some  direction. 
The  work  of  the  teacher  is  to  invite  the  native  im- 
pulses that  reach  out  toward  right  and  useful  things, 
by  offering  the  proper  objects  for  their  exercise. 
When  these  tendencies  of  the  child's  being  are  en- 
couraged, his  growth  will  be  ethical. 

What  is  the  relation  of  the  doctrine  of  duty  to 


lOO  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

the  practical  subject  in  hand  ?  This  is  a  question 
that  rests  upon  the  broad  foundation  of  philosophy 
and  religion,  and  we  cannot  discuss  the  grounds  of 
belief.  We  may  believe  that  the  sense  of  duty  is 
indispensable  to  moral  character.  True,  much  has 
been  done  in  the  name  of  duty  that  has  been  harm- 
ful and  repellent.  Many  things  have  been  thought 
to  be  duty  that  would  rule  healthful  spontaneity 
and  cheerfulness  and  needful  recreation  out  of  life, 
and  place  the  child  under  a  solemn  restraint  that 
rests  on  his  spirit  like  an  incubus  and  drives  him  to 
rebellion  and  sin.  We  do  not  mean  duty  in  this 
caricature  of  the  reality.  But  this  is  a  world  in 
which  the  highest  good  is  to  be  obtained  by  courage 
to  overcome  evil  and  difficulty.  The  great  Fichte 
said :  "  I  have  found  out  now  that  man's  will  is  free, 
and  that  not  happiness,  but  worthiness  is  the  end  of 
our  being."  And  Professor  Royce  in  the  same  vein 
says :  **  The  spiritual  life  isn't  a  gentle  or  an  easy 
thing.  .  .  .  Spirituality  consists  in  being  heroic 
enough  to  accept  the  tragedy  of  existence,  and  to 
glory  in  the  strength  wherewith  it  is  given  to  the 
true  lords  of  life  to  conquer  this  tragedy,  and  to 
make  their  world,  after  all,  divine."  In  the  name  of 
evolution  and  physiological  psychology  much  good 
has  been  done  in  driving  to  the  realm  of  darkness, 
whence  it  emanated,  the  spirit  of  harshness  and  cruelty 
in  education  and  in  discipline ;  at  the  same  time 
much  harm  has  been  done  by  superficial  interpreters 
by  the  attempt  to  make  all  education  and  training 
a  pleasure.  The  highest  good  cannot  be  gained 
without  struggle.  Character  cannot  be  formed  with- 
out struggle.  You  and  I  would  give  nothing  for 
acquisitions  that  have  cost  us  nothing.     While  the 


MORAL    TRAINING.  lOI 

child's  will  is  to  be  invited  in  the  right  direction  by 
every  worthy  motive  that  tends  to  make  the  path 
pleasant,  the  child  at  the  same  time  should  know  by 
daily  experience  that  some  things  must  be  because 
they  are  right,  because  they  are  part  of  his  duty ; 
that  they  may  be  at  first  disagreeable  and  require 
stern  effort.  Only  then  will  he  be  prepared  to  re- 
sist temptation,  and  to  actively  pursue  a  course  that 
will  lead  toward  the  perfection  of  his  being  and  to- 
ward a  life  of  usefulness.  Along  the  paths  of  pleas- 
ure are  the  wrecks  of  innumerable  lives,  and  this 
view  is  one  of  the  greatest  practical  importance  in 
the  every-day  work  of  the  schoolroom. 

All  proper  education  is  ethical  education.  How 
the  teacher  encourages  the  acquisition  of  truth ! 
With  what  care  he  corrects  error  in  experiment  and 
inference !  With  what  zeal  he  leads  the  pupil  to 
further  knowledge !  With  what  feeling  he  points 
out  beauty  in  natural  forms  and  in  literary  art ! 
With  what  hope  he  encourages  him  to  overcome 
difficulties !  With  what  solicitude  he  regards  his 
ways  and  his  choice  of  company !  What  use  he 
makes  of  every  opportunity  to  emphasize  a  lesson 
of  justice  in  this  little  society  of  children,  which  is 
in  many  ways  a  type  of  the  larger  society  into  which 
the  child  is  to  enter !  If  teachers  are  learned  and 
skilful,  and  of  strong  character,  if  they  awaken  inter- 
est in  studies  and  not  disgust,  if  they  have  insight 
into  the  moral  order  of  the  world  as  revealed  in  all 
departments  of  learning,  the  whole  curriculum  of 
study,  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university,  will 
be  a  disclosure  of  ethical  conceptions,  a  practice  of 
right  activity,  an  encouragement  of  right  aim.     If 


I02  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

the  better  tendencies  of  the  child's  nature  are  re- 
pelled instead  of  invited,  in  so  far  will  instruction 
lack  the  ethical  element.  And  herein  lies  the  great 
responsibility  of  the  teacher  for  his  own  education, 
methods,  and  personal  influence. 

What  are  the  schools  doing  for  moral  training? 
We  believe  they  are  doing  much  that  is  satisfactory 
and  encouraging.  The  public  schools  have  at  their 
command  the  various  ethical  forces.  They  form 
right  habits  by  every-day  requirements  of  the  school- 
room ;  they  provide  the  personal  influence  of  teach- 
ers whose  good  character  is  the  first  passport  to 
their  position ;  they  employ  the  lessons  of  history 
and  literature,  and  in  distinct  ways  impart  principles 
of  right  conduct ;  they  inspire  courage  to  overcome 
difficulties ;  they  direct  the  better  impulses  of  chil- 
dren toward  discovery  in  the  great  world  of  truth, 
and,  by  the  very  exercise  of  power  required  in  the 
process  of  education,  prepare  them  for  life. 


CAN   VIRTUE   BE   TAUGHT? 

On  a  certain  occasion  Socrates  assumed  the  role 
of  listener,  while  Protagoras  discoursed  upon  the 
theme  "  Can  Virtue  Be  Taught  ?  "  Protagoras  shows 
that  there  are  some  essential  qualities  which,  regard- 
less of  specific  calling,  should  be  common  to  all  men, 
such  as  justice,  temperance,  and  holiness — in  a  word, 
manly  virtue.  He  holds  it  absurd  and  contrary  to 
experience  to  assume  that  virtue  cannot  be  taught. 
He  says  that,  in  fact,  "  Education  and  admonition 
commence  in  the  first  years  of  childhood,  and  last 
to  the  very  end  of  life."  Mother  and  nurse,  and 
father  and  tutor  ceaselessly  set  forth  to  the  child 
what  is  just  or  unjust,  honorable  or  dishonorable, 
holy  or  unholy ;  the  teachers  look  to  his  manners, 
and  later  put  in  his  hands  the  works  of  the  great 
poets,  full  of  moral  examples  and  teachings  ;  the 
instructor  of  the  lyre  imparts  harmony  and  rhythm  ; 
the  master  of  gymnastics  trains  the  body  to  be 
minister  to  the  virtuous  mind ;  and  when  the  pupil 
has  completed  his  work  with  the  instructors,  the 
state  compels  him  to  learn  the  laws,  and  live  after 
the  pattern  which  they  furnish.  "  Cease  to  wonder, 
Socrates,  whether  virtue  can  be  taught." 

We  can  but  accept  the  principles  of  Protagoras, 
that  the  essential  qualities  of  a  rational  and  moral 
being  are  to  be  considered  at  each  stage  of  growth 
and  in  all  relations  of  life ;  that  all  education  is  to 


I04 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


be  the  ally  of  virtue.  We  can  but  accept,  too,  the 
fact  that  guidance,  instruction,  and  authority  help  to 
bring  the  child  to  self-realization,  and  help  to  de- 
termine modes  of  conduct.  The  remaining  question 
relates  to  the  ways  and  means  adapted  to  a  given 
stage  of  education.  When  the  pupil  enters  the  high 
school  he  is  already  a  trained  being.  His  training, 
however,  has  been  more  or  less  mechanical.  He  is 
now  at  an  age  when  his  capacity,  his  studies,  and  his 
social  relations  admit  him  to  a  broader  field — a  field 
in  which  he  makes  essays  at  independent  action ; 
when  his  physical  development  brings  new  problems 
and  dangers  ;  when  contact  with  the  world  begins  to 
acquaint  him  with  the  vicious  maxims  of  selfish 
men  ;  when  there  is  a  tendency  to  break  away  from 
the  moral  codes,  without  the  wisdom  of  experience 
to  guide  him  in  his  growing  freedom.  It  is  a  critical 
period — one  that  tests  in  new  ways  his  mental  and 
moral  balance.  If  the  pupil  is  not  wrecked  here,  he 
has  many  chances  in  his  favor,  although  the  college 
or  business  life  or  society  may  later  sorely  tempt 
him.  That  the  teachings  and  influences  of  the  period 
of  secondary  education  have  much  to  do  with  making 
character  is  recognized  by  the  colleges.  Some 
schools  become  known  for  the  vigor  of  their  intellec- 
tual and  ethical  training,  and  the  successful  prepara- 
tion of  their  pupils  to  meet  the  demands  and  temp- 
tations of  college  life.  The  subject  of  ethics  in  the 
high  school  thus  becomes  a  proper  one  for  inquiry. 

Shall  we  employ  the  formal  study  of  ethics  ? 
Hardly.  The  scientific  or  theoretical  treatment  of 
the  subject  belongs  to  the  period  of  reflection,  of 
subjective  insight,  and  should  follow  psychology,  if 
not  philosophy.      Such  study  hardly   accomplishes 


CAN    VIRTUE  BE    TAUGHT?  105 

much  practically  until  experience  and  reflection  have 
given  one  an  interest  in  the  deepest  problems  of  life. 
It  belongs  to  a  period  when  the  commonplaces  are 
fraught  with  meaning,  when  a  rational  conviction 
has  the  force  which  Socrates  gave  to  insight  into 
wisdom — when  to  understand  virtue  is  to  conform 
the  life  to  it.  But,  nevertheless,  the  whole  period  of 
high-school  work  should  be  a  contribution  to  the 
end  of  moral  character.  Let  us  get  rid,  at  the  outset, 
of  the  idea  that  a  moral  life  is  a  mechanical  obedi- 
ence to  rules  and  conventionalities,  a  cut-and-dried 
affair,  a  matter  that  lies  in  but  one  province  of  our 
nature,  a  formalism,  and  learn  that  the  whole  being, 
its  purposes  and  activities,  the  heroic  impulses  and 
the  commonplace  duties  lie  within  its  circle.  Every- 
thing a  man  is  and  does,  learns  and  becomes,  con- 
stitutes his  moral  character. 

Ethics  is  the  science  of  conduct — conduct  on  both 
its  subjective  and  its  objective  side.  It  considers 
the  relation  of  the  self  to  all  consequences  of  an  act 
as  foreseen  and  chosen  by  the  self,  and  to  the  same 
consequences  as  outwardly  expressed.  Practically  it 
teaches  control  of  impulse  with  reference  to  results 
as  expressing  and  revealing  the  character — results 
both  immediate  and  remote.  Some  acts  show  a 
one-sided  inclination,  uncontrolled  by  regard  for  the 
claims  of  other  and  better  impulses  ;  only  a  part 
of  the  individual  is  asserted,  not  the  whole  self  in 
perfect  balance.  For  example,  the  pupil  plays 
truant,  acting  with  sole  regard  for  the  impulse  to 
seek  ease  and  sensuous  pleasure.  He  neglects  other 
more  important  impulses,  all  of  which  might  have 
been  satisfied  by  attending  faithfully  to  his  school 
duties :  the  impulse  of  ambition,  to  gain  power  and 


I06  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

become  a  useful  and  successful  citizen ;  the  desire 
for  culture,  with  all  its  superior  values  ;  the  impulse 
of  wonder,  leading  ever  to  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge ;  the  impulse  of  admiration,  to  seek  and  appre- 
ciate the  beautiful;  the  filial  and  social  affections, 
which  regard  the  feelings  and  wishes  of  the  home 
and  the  sentiments  of  companions ;  the  impulse  to 
gratitude,  as  shown  toward  parents  and  teachers ; 
the  sentiment  of  reverence,  as  shown  toward  law  and 
order  and  those  who  stand  as  their  representatives. 
And  all  these  neglected  demands  rise  up  and  condemn 
him ;  he  is  divided  from  himself  and  his  fair  judg- 
ment, is  not  his  complete  self.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  pupil  spends  the  day  in  devotion  to  work,  he 
maintains  the  integrity  and  balance  of  his  nature, 
gives  each  impulse  due  consideration  and  makes  a 
symmetrical  and  moral  advance  in  his  development. 
In  restraining  the  impulse  to  play  truant,  he  does 
justice  to  all  the  claims  of  his  being ;  the  resulting 
values  as  estimated  in  subjective  experiences  are  the 
highest  possible — the  act  is  good.  The  problem, 
then,  is  to  bring  the  pupil  to  a  fuller  understanding 
of  the  character  of  his  impulses  to  action,  and  the 
relative  value  of  each.  In  many  ways  the  neglected 
elements  of  his  nature  may  be  brought  into  con- 
sciousness and  emphasized.  Everything  that  creates 
conceptions  of  ideal  conduct,  all  concrete  illustrations 
in  the  social  life  of  the  school,  all  conscious  exer- 
cise of  power  in  right  ways,  contribute  toward  his  self- 
realization.  The  high-school  pupil  has  not  had  a 
large  personal  experience ;  hence  the  need,  in  the 
ways  proposed,  of  teaching  virtue.  In  the  first  place, 
the  situation  is  advantageous.  It  is  conceded  by 
every  school  of  ethical  thinkers  that  one  finds  his 


CAN    VIRTUE  BE    TAUGHT? 


107 


moral  awakening  in  contact  with  society.  Society 
is  the  mirror  in  which  one  sees  a  reflection  of  him- 
self, and  comes  to  realize  himself  and  his  character. 
The  school  of  the  people,  which  is  in  an  important 
sense  an  epitome  of  that  larger  world  which  he  is  to 
enter,  furnishes  an  admirable  field  for  development. 
Moreover,  it  is  a  community  where  the  restraint, 
the  guidance,  the  ideals  come  of  right  from  properly 
constituted  authority.  The  whole  problem  of  ob- 
jective relations  and  corresponding  subjective  values 
may  find  illustration  and  experiment  in  the  daily 
life  of  the  school.  The  constructive  imagination 
may  be  employed  to  infer  from  experiences  in  school 
to  larger  experiences  of  kindred  quality  in  the  field 
of  life.  By  judging  real  or  supposed  cases  of  con- 
duct the  pupil  makes  at  least  a  theoretical  choice. 
By  learning  and  interpreting  characters  and  events 
in  history  his  view  is  broadened. 

The  whole  school  curriculum  should  contribute  to 
moral  development.  Whatever  of  intellect,  emotion, 
and  will  is  exercised  in  a  rational  field  expands  the 
soul  normally.  The  pursuit  of  studies  with  the  right 
spirit,  and  with  regard  for  the  activities  and  relations 
incidental  thereto,  is  moral  growth.  Studies  awaken 
rational  interest,  cultivate  habits  of  industry,  are  de- 
voted to  the  discovery  of  truth,  reveal  important 
relations  of  the  individual  to  society,  and  present  the 
purest  ideals  of  the  race.  There  is  hardly  a  more 
val-uable  moralizer  than  healthy  employment  itself, 
employment  that  engages  the  whole  man — percep- 
tion, imagination,  thought,  emotion,  and  will — em- 
ployment that  looks  toward  ennobling  and  useful 
consequences,  employment  that  has  the  sanction  of 
every  consideration  that  regards  man's  full  develop- 


I08  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

ment.  If  the  studies  of  the  high-school  course  do 
not  make  for  good,  it  is  because  they  fail  to  get  hold 
of  the  pupil,  to  awaken  his  interest  and  energies.  If 
the  subject  matter  and  the  instruction  are  adapted 
to  the  pupil's  need,  if  conceptions  are  clearly  grasped, 
if  healthy  interest  is  aroused  and  the  attention  turns 
spontaneously  to  the  work,  the  pupil's  growth  will 
be  in  every  way  beneficent.  One  who  regards  the 
moral  development  of  his  pupils  will  conscientiously 
study  the  method  of  his  teaching,  and  learn  whether 
the  source  of  neglect  and  rebellion  lies  there. 

The  personality  of  the  teacher  is  one  of  the  most 
important  factors  in  ethical  training.  It  is  ethics 
teaching  by  example  ;  it  is  the  living  embodiment  of 
conduct.  The  ideas  that  find  expression  in  the  life 
of  the  teacher  are  likely  to  be  imitated.  The  sym- 
pathy of  the  teacher  with  the  endeavor  of  the  pupil 
infuses  life  into  his  effort.  We  do  not  refer  to  a  cer- 
tain kind  of  personal  magnetism ;  this  may  be  per- 
nicious in  the  extreme.  It  may  exist  to  the  extent 
of  partially  hypnotizing  the  independent  Hfe  of 
the  pupil,  robbing  him  for  a  time  of  part  of  his  indi- 
viduality. The  ideal  instructor  should  be  earnest  and 
noble,  impressing  one  with  the  goodness,  dignity,  and 
meaning  of  life.  An  easy-going  regard  for  duties,  a 
half-way  attachment  to  labor  are  sure  to  impress 
themselves  on  the  minds  of  pupils ;  as  readily  will 
honor,  sincerity,  and  pure  ideals  be  reflected  in  their 
endeavors.  You  will  ask:  What  are  some  of  the 
specific  ways  in  which  a  teacher  may  direct  his  ef- 
forts ?  We  often  look  far  for  the  means  of  accom- 
plishment when  they  are  already  at  hand.  The 
means  of  moral  influence  are  not  the  exclusive  pos- 
session of  learning  or  genius ;  they  may  be  used  by 


CAN    VIRTUE  BE    TAUGHT?  log 

every  teacher,  and  we  should  have  faith  in  what  the 
schools  are  already  doing  to  make  good  character. 
The  successful  use  of  methods  depends  upon  the 
teacher's  judgment  and  tact.  One  may  do  harm  by 
conscientious  but  ill-directed  effort.  With  Solo- 
mon we  must  remember  that  there  is  a  time  for 
everything.  Amongst  other  impulses,  natural  or 
acquired,  the  pupil  has  impulses  to  regard  honor,  hon- 
esty, truthfulness,  gentlemanliness,  good  thoughts, 
respect,  gratitude,  sympathy,  industry,  usefulness. 
In  a  fit  of  rage,  with  desire  to  harm  the  object  of  his 
vindictiveness,  he  may  disregard  nearly  every  one 
of  the  above  qualities.  The  impulse  of  anger  acts 
blindly,  heedless  of  external  consequences  and  of 
the  subjective  values  that  attach  to  the  execution 
of  every  desire.  All  cases  of  bad  conduct,  varying  in 
degree,  show  a  similar  disproportionate  estimate  of 
the  value  of  motives.  Our  problem  is  to  plant  in  the 
consciousness  of  the  pupil  an  appreciation  of  neg- 
lected qualities.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that 
there  are  some  cases  of  physical  tendency,  amount- 
ing to  monomania.  Conscious  wrong  never  is  able 
fully  to  conceal  itself,  and  when  the  truth  becomes 
evident  to  the  teacher,  as  it  may,  he  should  seek  the 
confidence  of  the  home,  and  through  the  home  the 
influence  upon  the  pupil  of  a  trusted  physician  who 
possesses  both  medical  skill  and  moral  force. 

In  approaching  the  specific  ways  of  moral  educa- 
tion, we  may  first  make  our  obeisance  to  habit.  The 
limitations  as  to  time,  place,  and  activity,  which  are 
incidental  to  all  school  life,  help  to  form  habits 
which  turn  the  growing  youth  still  more  from  the 
condition  of  uncontrolled  liberty  into  one  of  well- 
regulated  conduct,  civilize  him,  and  make  him  a  fit 


HO  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

member  of  society.  Habits  of  regard  for  the  rights 
of  others  further  lay  the  foundation  of  altruism. 
Habit  has  its  value.  It  establishes  tendencies  of 
conduct,  although  in  a  more  or  less  mechanical  way, 
which  make  easier  the  adherence  to  virtue  in  the 
advanced  period  of  reflective  insight.  Too,  these 
same  duties  mechanically  performed  may  later  be 
known  in  their  full  significance,  and  become  moral 
acts. 

The  judicious  use  of  maxims,  also,  has  a  value. 
Maxims  are  the  first  formal  expression  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  race  as  to  the  things  to  do  or  avoid* 
Since  we  act  from  ideas,  maxims  may  serve  prac- 
tically for  many  concrete  cases.  This  is  especially 
true  if  the  full  meaning  of  a  maxim  has  been  pre- 
sented. Next  to  maxims,  and  greater  in  importance, 
are  the  events  and  characters  of  history  and  biogra- 
phy. Embodied  virtues  and  vices,  real  events  that 
show  the  movements  and  reveal  the  motives  of  a 
people,  appeal  strongly  to  the  interest.  Yet,  being 
remote  in  time  and  place,  they  allow  the  freest  dis- 
cussion and  may  be  made  permanent  types  for  the 
instruction  and  improvement  of  mankind.  The  value 
lies  in  the  fact  that  qualities  thus  known  hasten  the 
self-realization  of  the  same  qualities.  The  life  of  a 
Socrates,  an  Aristides,  of  a  Cato,  a  Savonarola,  a 
Luther,  a  Cromwell,  a  Lincoln,  a  Whittier,  of  all 
men  and  women  who  exemplify  virtue,  heroism,  self- 
denial,  all  struggles  for  the  right,  are  the  high-water 
mark  for  every  aspiring  nature.  And  in  the  teach- 
ing of  history  and  biography  it  is  not  necessary  at 
every  turn  to  deliver  a  homily ;  rather  lead  the  pupil 
into  the  spirit  and  understanding  of  the  subject — 
some  things  shine  with  their  own  light. 


CAN    VIRTUE  BE    TAUGHT?  m 

A  yet  more  fertile  source  of  ideal  conceptions  is 
the  choice  literature  of  the  world.  From  this  rich 
treasury  we  draw  the  poetry  which  we  apply  to  life. 
In  literature  truth  is  given  life  and  color,  idealized 
and  made  attractive.  Quahties  are  abstracted,  re- 
fined, perfected,  and  glorified.  They  serve  to  show 
us  the  meaning  of  those  qualities  in  us.  Literature 
presents  emotions  that  in  their  purity  and  refine- 
ment seem  to  transcend  the  material  world ;  heroes 
and  martyrs  idealized  and  embodying  self-sacrifice  and 
devotion ;  sentiments  that  touch  the  whole  range 
of  chords  in  the  heart  and  awaken  tenderness  or 
heroism.  The  pupil  reads  Homer  and  gains  con- 
ceptions of  heroic  virtues ;  the  ''■  Lays  of  Ancient 
Rome,*'  and  gains  ideas  of  perfect  honor  and  devo- 
tion to  country ;  Tennyson,  and  he  follows  the  pure 
conceptions  and  feels  that  life  has  taken  on  a  nobler 
coloring ;  Carlyle's  doctrine  of  work  and  duty,  and 
feels  his  moral  sinews  strengthened.  Thoughts  that 
aspire,  emotions  of  transcendent  worth,  courage, 
heroism,  benevolence,  devotion  to  country  or  hu- 
manity— all  these  are  at  the  command  of  the  in- 
structor, if  he  has  the  skill  to  lead  the  pupil  into 
the  spirit  and  understanding  of  literature.  If  he  has 
not  the  skill,  let  him  not  touch  it. 

The  study  of  science  itself  offers  opportunities. 
Science  searches  for  truth,  judges  not  hastily,  re- 
moves all  prejudice,  employs  the  judicial  spirit.  It 
should  suggest  lessons  in  fairness,  justice,  and  truth 
in  the  field  of  human  conduct.  Hasty  inference, 
prejudiced  judgment  are  responsible  for  half  the 
sins  of  this  world,  and  the  scientific  spirit  should  be 
made  to  pass  from  the  abstract  field  over  into  prac- 
tical life. 


112  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

Something  can  be  done  by  daily  assembly  of  pu- 
pils. While  men  have  various  occupations,  there  are 
certain  interests  that  belong  to  men  as  men,  as 
human  beings.  As  there  are  hymns  set  to  noble 
music  which  are  sung  for  centuries  without  diminu- 
tion of  interest,  because  they  are  adapted  to  the  want 
of  man's  essential  nature,  so  there  are  gems  of 
aesthetic  and  ethical  literature  which  have  stood  the 
test  of  time  and  are  approved  by  common  consent. 
The  reading  of  vigorous,  healthful  selections  can  but 
have  an  influence  sooner  or  later  upon  the  listener. 
The  teacher,  in  a  brief  address,  may  express  some 
thought  or  experience  or  ideal  or  sentiment,  that  will 
reach  the  inner  life.  In  no  way,  however,  will  the 
good  sense  and  skill  of  the  teacher  be  put  to  severer 
test  than  in  the  selection  of  these  teachings.  They 
easily  become  monotonous  instead  of  giving  vital 
interest. 

Professor  John  Dewey,  in  an  admirable  article  on 
the  subject  of  interest,  defines  it  thus :  "  Interest  is 
impulse  functioning  with  reference  to  an  idea  of  self- 
expression."  He  further  says  :  "  The  real  object  of 
desire  is  not  pleasure,  but  self-expression.  .  .  . 
The  pleasure  felt  is  simply  the  reflex  of  the  satisfac- 
tion which  the  self  is  anticipating  in  its  own  expres- 
sion. .  .  .  Pleasure  arrives,  not  as  the  goal  of  an 
impulse,  but  as  an  accompaniment  of  the  putting 
forth  of  activity."  These  expressions  mean  simply 
that  the  human  being  has  native  impulses  to  activity ; 
that  these  impulses,  under  rational  control,  aim  at 
proper  ends ;  that  pleasure  is  not  the  end  of  action 
but  merely  accompanies  the  putting  forth  of  activ- 
ity ;  that  interest  is  the  mental  excitement  that  arises 
when  the  self-active  mind  has  an  end  in  view  and  the 


CAN    VIRTUE  BE    TAUGHT? 


113 


means  of  its  attainment — a  feeling  that  binds  the  at- 
tention to  the  end  and  the  means.  His  doctrine 
denies  hedonism.  We  are  not  to  aim  at  a  good,  but 
to  act  the  good.  We  are  not  to  work  for  the  pleasure, 
but  to  find  pleasure  in  working.  This  is  a  doctrine 
of  vast  importance  to  the  educator.  External  and 
unworthy  rewards  for  effort  are  false  motives.  The 
work  itself  must  furnish  interest,  because  suited  to 
the  activities  of  the  pupil.  The  great  problem  of 
the  teacher  is  to  invite  a  self-activity  that  finds  its 
reward  in  the  activity. 

False  motives  should  not  be  held  before  pupils. 
There  is  a  view  of  life  called  romanticism,  the 
condemnation  of  which  gives  Nordau  his  one  virtue. 
The  adherents  claim  for  themselves  the  fill  of  a  con- 
stantly varying  round  of  completely  satisfying  emo- 
tional life.  The  history  of  prominent  adherents  of 
this  view  is  a  warning  to  this  generation.  The  dev- 
otees either  become  rational  and  satirize  their  own 
folly,  or  become  pessimists,  railing  at  the  whole  that 
life  has  to  offer,  or  commit  suicide,  and  thus  well  rid 
the  world  of  their  useless  presence.  Carlyle  points 
out  that  not  all  the  powers  of  Christendom  combined 
could  suffice  to  make  even  one  shoeblack  happy. 
If  he  had  one  half  the  universe  he  would  set  about 
the  conquest  of  the  other  half.  And  then  follows 
the  grand  exhortation  to  useful  labor,  the  perform- 
ance of  duty,  as  the  lasting  source  of  satisfaction. 
If  we  do  not  find  happiness  therein,  we  may  get 
along  without  happiness  and,  instead  thereof,  find 
blessedness.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  Goethe's  Faust. 
Faust  at  first  wishes  to  enjoy  everything  and  do 
nothing.  He  runs  the  whole  round  of  pleasure,  of 
experience,  and  emotional  life,  and  finds  satisfaction 
8 


114  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

in  nothing.  Finally,  in  the  second  book,  he  finds  the 
supreme  moment  in  the  joy  of  useful  labor  for  his 
fellow  men.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  as  soon 
as  he  is  fully  satisfied  he  dies,  as,  metaphorically, 
people  in  that  state  always  do.  Pleasure  does  not 
make  life  worth  living,  but  living  the  fulness  of  our 
nature  is  living  a  life  of  worth. 

Laying  aside  all  theories,  even  the  theoretical  cor- 
rectness of  what  follows,  it  is  necessary  to  hold  prac- 
tically to  the  transcendental  will.  This  is  a  large 
word,  but  it  means  simply  going  over  beyond  the 
mere  solicitation  of  present  pleasure,  and  holding 
with  wisdom  and  courage  to  the  claims  of  all  the  im- 
pulses of  our  being — in  a  word,  living  a  life  of  integ- 
rity. The  transcendental  will  can  suffer  and  perse- 
vere and  refuse  pleasure,  and  endure  and  work  out 
good  and  useful  results.  It  is  important  to  give  pu- 
pils a  little  touch  of  the  heroic,  else  they  will  be  the 
sport  of  every  wind  that  blows  and  least  of  all  be 
able  to  withstand  the  tempest  or  the  wintry  blast. 

There  is  a  well-worn  figure  of  speech,  essentially 
Platonic  in  its  character,  which,  once  well  in  the  mind 
of  a  young  man  or  woman,  will  surely  influence  the 
life  for  good.  As  the  healthy  tree  grows  and  ex- 
pands in  symmetry,  beauty,  and  strength,  and  blos- 
soms and  yields  useful  fruit,  instead  of  being  dwarfed 
or  growing  in  distorted  and  ugly  forms,  so  the  nor- 
mal soul  should  expand  and  develop  in  vigor  and 
beauty  of  character,  and  blossom  and  yield  a  life  of 
usefulness.  A  stunted  soul,  one  that  has  gone  all 
awry,  is  a  spectacle  over  which  men  and  gods  may 
weep.  In  some  way  the  nobility  of  life,  the  gran- 
deur of  upright  character  must  be  impressed  upon 
the  mind  of  youth. 


CAN    VIRTUE  BE    TAUGHT? 


115 


And  moral  growth  must  be  growth  in  freedom. 
Rules  and  maxims,  petty  prohibitions,  and  restraints 
alone  will  not  make  morality,  but  rather  bare  mech- 
anism and  habit.  Moral  freedom  means  that,  by  an 
insight  that  comes  of  right  development,  one  views 
the  full  bearing  of  any  problem  of  conduct,  and 
chooses  with  a  wisdom  that  is  his  own.  Morality  is 
not  mechanism,  but  insight.  Doctrine  does  not  con- 
stitute morality.  Pharisaism  is  immorality  and  will 
drive  any  one  to  rebellion  and  sin.  Mechanical  rule 
has  no  vitalizing  power.  A  moral  life  should  be  self- 
active,  vigorous,  joyous,  and  free.  So  far  as  spon- 
taneous conduct  can  be  made  to  take  the  place  of 
rule  and  restraint  will  you  secure  a  growth  that  will 
expand,  when,  well-rooted  by  your  fostering  care,  you 
finally  leave  it  to  struggle  with  the  elements. 

Following  in  substance  the  thought  of  a  promi- 
nent educator, — not  so  much  pedagogical  preaching 
as  skilful  stimulating,  not  so  much  perfect  ideals  as 
present  activities,  not  so  much  compulsion  as  invit- 
ing self-activity  are  to-day  the  needs  of  the  schools. 
Through  guidance  of  present  interest  the  child  may 
later  attain  to  the  greater  interests  of  life  in  their 
full  comprehension. 


COLLEGE   AND   UNIVERSITY.* 

Touching  the  theme  of  higher  education,  inqui- 
ries were  sent  to  a  large  number  of  universities,  col- 
leges, and  secondary  schools.  The  first  two  ques- 
tions related  to  the  work  of  secondary  education, 
and  were  as  follows:  (i)  What  should  the  high- 
school  graduate  be  when  entering  college?  (2) 
What  does  he  lack  of  an  ideal  education  when  he 
enters?  Considering  the  general  character  of  the 
questions,  the  answers  were  all  that  might  be  ex- 
pected, and  they  are  valuable  for  the  limit  of  their 
range,  as  well  as  for  what  they  express,  since  they 
show  that,  concerning  the  main  purpose  of  educa- 
tion, there  is  nothing  new  to  be  said. 

The  following  are  opinions  that  represent  the  ma- 
jority or  appear  important  as  individual  views  :  (i) 
The  high-school  graduate,  when  entering  college, 
should  possess  a  mind  educated  by  methods  that  cre- 
ate interest  and  make  power  to  think  and  generalize 
— power  to  do  original  work.  (2)  He  should  have  an 
acquaintance  with  each  field  of  knowledge,  and  should 
show  a  symmetrical  development  of  his  mental  ac- 
tivities. (3)  As  tending  to  produce  greater  interest, 
knowledge,  and  power,  he  should  have  been  trained 
in  only  a  limited  number  of  subjects  in  each  field  ;  in 
these  subjects  the  work  should  have  been  continuous 

*  Read  before  the  National  Association  of  City  Superintendents, 
at  Jacksonville,  Florida,  in   1896. 


COLLEGE  AND    UNIVERSITY. 


117 


and  intensive.  (4)  He  should  have  good  command 
of  EngHsh.  (5)  He  should  be  well-grounded  in  right 
habits  and  moral  principles — the  practice  of  self- 
control. 

While  this  inquiry  is  not  strictly  upon  the  subject, 
it  shows  that  the  difficult  problems  of  university  life 
are  to  be  solved  in  part  by  the  secondary  schools, 
and  that  some  of  the  failures  in  higher  education  are 
due  to  the  imperfections  of  earlier  training.  It  also 
introduces  part  of  the  discussion  that  follows. 

The  third  question  pertained  to  higher  education : 
What  should  the  college  or  university  do  for  the 
high-school  graduate  ?  Some  of  the  more  important 
opinions  received  may  be  expressed  as  follows : 

(a)  It  should  supplement  the  failures  of  his  earlier 
training.  There  should  be  no  chasm  between  sec- 
ondary and  higher  education. 

(b)  It  should  give  him  a  liberal  education ;  it 
should  offer  him  a  course  that  has  unity  and  har- 
mony. It  should  cultivate  the  power  of  research. 
It  should  teach  him  to  bring  all  his  knowledge  and 
all  his  power  to  bear  on  the  problems  of  life. 

(c)  It  should  make  him  broad,  and  then  deep  in 
some  subject.  It  should  start  him  in  lines  of  study 
leading  to  his  life  work. 

(d)  It  should  give  him  high  ideals  of  private  and 
civic  conduct ;  it  should  make  a  man  of  him. 

To  consider  merely  the  subject  of  college  ideals 
would  be  trite  and  unprofitable,  and  some  latitude 
will  be  used  in  the  discussion. 

The  influence  of  the  college  should  be  felt  in  the 
work  of  preparation.  That  the  college  should  be 
closely  articulated  with  the  high  schools  is  an  idea  of 


Il8  EDUCATION  AND   LIFE. 

modern  date,  but  one  that  now  is  received  with  grow- 
ing favor.  An  examination  of  the  admission  re- 
quirements of  the  colleges  still  shows  a  variety  of 
demands,  having  no  common  basis  in  principles  of 
education,  in  the  standard  courses  of  high  schools, 
or  in  uniform  agreement.  The  requirements  of  some 
colleges  are  imperative  for  specific  subjects  that  are 
not  fundamental,  but  merely  rank  with  a  series  of 
allied  subjects  in  a  given  field  of  knowledge.  Often 
a  method  of  work  acceptable  to  one  college  would 
be  rejected  by  another.  Among  reputable  institu- 
tions the  height  of  the  standard  varies  by  two 
years. 

The  dissatisfaction  of  the  high  schools  with  these 
evils  is  deep-seated  and  wide-spread.  The  fault  rests 
mainly  with  the  colleges  and  universities,  and  the 
reasons  that  maintain  unessential  distinctions  are  ab- 
surd in  the  eyes  of  secondary-school  men.  If  abso- 
lute uniformity  in  college  admission  is  not  feasible, 
a  reasonable  choice  of  equivalents  within  a  given 
department  of  knowledge  may  be  allowed.  At  least 
a  plan  of  admission  may  be  ""' orgaftized  without 
uniformity,''  A  college  has  been  known  to  refuse 
four  years'  excellent  work  in  science  as  a  substitute 
for  some  chapters  in  a  particular  book  on  physical 
geography.  In  another  instance  a  certain  scientific 
school,  requiring  two  years  of  preparation  in  Latin, 
refused  a  four  years'  course  in  Latin  in  lieu  of  the 
prescribed  number  of  books  in  Caesar.  A  joint  com- 
mittee has  recently  been  appointed  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Higher  Education  and  the  Department  of 
Secondary  Education,  of  the  National  Educational 
Association,  to  consider  further  the  basis  of  connec- 
tion between  the  high  schools  and  the  colleges.     This 


f  UNIVERSITY  i 
COLLEGE  AND   Um^ERSITY.  .».  J^Q 

committee  consists  of  eminent  andabie  men,  who 
will  accomplish  important  results,  if  given  proper 
encouragement  and  aid  by  the  National  Association, 
and  if  the  various  local  associations  cooperate,  in- 
stead of  fostering  organized  differences.*  The  re- 
port of  the  Committee  of  Ten  did  much  to  prepare  the 
way  for  a  more  complete  and  satisfactory  connection 
between  the  colleges  and  the  high  schools,  but  much 
remains  to  be  done  which  may  well  be  undertaken 
by  this  joint  committee.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  one  of  the  longest  sections  in  the  report  of  the 

*  This  committee  made  its  report  in  1899.  The  committee  rec- 
ommend that  any  study,  included  in  a  given  list  regarded  as  suit- 
able for  the  secondary-school  period,  and  pursued  under  approved 
conditions  one  year  of  four  periods  a  week,  be  regarded  as  worthy  to 
count  toward  admission  to  college  ;  they  recognize  that  not  all  sec- 
ondary schools  are  equipped  to  offer  all  the  subjects,  and  that  the 
colleges  will  make  their  own  selections  for  admission  ;  they  recognize 
the  principle  of  large  liberty  to  the  student  in  secondary  schools,  but 
do  not  believe  in  unlimited  election,  and  they  emphasize  the  impor- 
tance of  certain  constants  in  all  secondary  schools  and  in  all  require- 
ments for  admission  to  college  ;  they  recommend  that  these  constants 
be  recognized  in  the  following  proportion  :  Four  units  in  foreign  lan- 
guages (no  language  accepted  in  less  than  two  units),  two  units  in 
mathematics,  two  in  English,  one  in  history,  and  one  in  science. 

The  thirteenth  annual  convention  (1900)  of  the  Association  of 
Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland 
passed  resolutions  urging  the  establishment  of  a  joint  college-admis- 
sion examination  board  to  bring  about  an  agreement  upon  a  uniform 
statement  as  to  each  subject  required  by  two  or  more  colleges  for  ad- 
mission, to  hold  examinations,  and  to  issue  certificates  to  be  accepted 
by  the  Middle-State  Colleges. 

At  the  Charleston  meeting  of  the  N.  E.  A.  (1900)  the  following 
resolution  was  passed  :  ''Resolved,  That  the  Department  of  Secondary 
Education  and  the  Department  of  Higher  Education  of  the  National 
Educational  Association  commend  the  Report  of  the  Special  Commit- 
tee on  College-Entrance  Requirements,  as  affording  a  basis  for  the 
practical  solution  of  the  problem  of  college  admission,  and  recom- 
mend the  Report  to  the  attention  of  the  colleges  of  the  country." 


I20  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

Royal  Commission  on  Secondary  Education  is  on 
the  **  Relation  of  the  University  to  Secondary  Edu- 
cation," and  that  the  importance  of  a  close  connec- 
tion is  emphasized  and  the  means  of  securing  it  is 
suggested. 

The  work  of  secondary  education  must  be  based 
on  pedagogical  principles  and  adapted  to  the  stage 
of  development  which  it  represents,  and  the  colleges 
must  take  up  the  work  where  the  high  schools  leave 
it.  Whatever  is  best  for  a  given  period  of  growth 
is  also  good  preparation  for  what  follows.  There 
should  be  no  saltus  in  the  process  of  general  educa- 
tion. We  do  not  mean  that  the  colleges  are  not  to 
help  determine  the  preparatory  courses  of  study ; 
but  they  must  regard  the  natural  order  of  develop- 
ment in  grades  below  the  college  as  well  as  ideal 
college  standards. 

By  a  closer  union  with  the  high  schools,  the  col- 
leges may  help  to  fashion  their  courses,  improve 
their  methods,  and  may  suggest  the  importance  of 
placing  college-educated  men  and  women  in  charge 
of  the  various  departments  of  high-school  work. 
The  report  of  the  Royal  Commission  previously  re- 
ferred to,  discussing  the  preparation  of  teachers  for 
the  secondary  schools,  says  :  "  So  far  as  regards  gen- 
eral education,  they  will  obtain  it,  and,  in  our  opin- 
ion, ought  to  obtain  it,  not  in  special  seminaries,  but 
in  the  same  schools  and  universities  as  are  resorted 
to  by  persons  desiring  to  enter  the  other  professions. 
The  more  attractive  the  profession  becomes,  the 
larger  will  be  the  number  of  teachers  who  will  feel 
that  they  ought  to  fit  themselves  for  it  by  a  univer- 
sity course."  The  report  further  says  :  "  Whatever 
professional  education  is  provided  for  teachers  ought 


COLLEGE  AND    UNIVERSITY.  12 1 

to  have  both  a  theoretical  and  a  practical  side. 
.  .  .  Freedom  and  variety  would,  in  our  opinion, 
be  best  secured,  if  the  universities  were  to  take  up 
the  task ;  .  .  .  and,  if  the  science  of  education 
is  to  make  good  the  claims  put  forward  in  its  behalf, 
it  ought  to  be  studied  where  other  branches  of  men- 
tal and  moral  philosophy  are  fully  handled  by  the 
ablest  professors." 

Many  colleges  are  doing  much  to  increase  labora- 
tory practice  in  the  high  schools,  to  cultivate  the 
spirit  of  investigation,  to  limit  the  number  of  sub- 
jects and  secure  good  results.  In  one  of  the  new 
States,  Colorado,  the  principle  is  generally  recognized 
that  a  good  preparatory  education  is  also  a  good 
general  education,  and  that  every  high  school  is, 
therefore,  a  preparatory  school.  The  secondary- 
school  period  is  maintained  at  four  years,  laborato- 
ries are  provided  in  all  the  schools,  and  Latin  and 
German,  if  not  Greek,  are  found  in  all.  These  re- 
sults are  largely  due  to  the  close  relation  in  that 
State  between  secondary  and  higher  education. 

In  the  second  group  of  opinions  quoted,  the  phi- 
losophy is  Platonic  rather  than  materialistic  or  utili- 
tarian. It  makes  a  student  a  man  of  ideal  powers, 
possibilities,  and  aspirations.  He  possesses  a  nature 
whose  development  is  an  end  in  itself,  whose  well- 
being  is  of  prime  consideration.  Liberal  education 
aims  to  give  the  student  a  conscious  realization  of 
his  powers,  without  reference  to  material  advan- 
tage through  their  use  in  a  given  occupation  or 
profession.  Through  liberal  education  the  student 
acquires  ideas  of  universal  interest  and  essential 
character.      He   gains  a  comprehensive    view   that 


122  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

enables  him  to  estimate  things  at  their  relative 
value,  to  learn  the  place,  use,  and  end  of  each. 

That  liberal  education  should  remain  the  ideal  of 
at  least  a  large  part  of  the  college  course,  most  edu- 
cators agree.  Were  this  function  of  the  college  not 
a  distinctive  and  essential  one,  that  department  of 
learning  would  of  necessity  be  abandoned,  and  the 
direct  road  to  practical  business  would  be  pursued. 
Recent  addresses,  representing  three  of  the  greatest 
American  universities,  agree  that  the  function  of  the 
college  is  to  be  maintained,  and  that  acquaintance 
with  the  several  fields  of  knowledge  is  necessary  to 
the  very  idea  of  liberal  education.  They  agree  to 
include  the  field  of  the  languages  and  literature,  the 
field  of  the  sciences  and  mathematics,  the  subjective 
field,  that  of  philosophy  and  psychology.  In  a  late 
report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  appears  a 
German  criticism  of  American  education,  which 
mentions  the  lack  of  linguistic  training.  The  writer 
says :  "  The  consequences  are  seen  in  the  defective 
linguistic-logical  discipline  of  the  mind,  which  per- 
haps more  than  the  discipline  in  the  mathematical 
forms  of  thought  is  a  requisite  of  all  profound  intel- 
lectual progress,  be  that  in  linguistic  or  in  mathe- 
matical and  scientific  branches."  In  the  University 
of  Berlin,  philosophy  is  a  required  subject  for  all 
degrees. 

The  conservation  of  the  ideals  of  the  race  is  largely 
the  work  of  liberally  educated  men.  Some  one  has 
argued  that  not  through  education,  but  through  a 
higher  standard  of  society  and  politics,  will  the  youth 
of  the  land  be  reached;  but  society  and  politics  de- 
pend upon  ideal  education  and  the  church  for  their 
own  purification. 


COLLEGE  AND    UNIVERSITY. 


123 


The  power  of  research  is  characteristic  of  modern 
university  training  and  is  essential  to  a  Hberal  edu- 
cation, as  giving  one  the  mastery  of  his  powers. 
Carlyle  was  not  far  from  the  right  when  he  said  that 
the  true  university  is  a  Hbrary.  The  abiUty  to 
use  a  Hbrary  is  one  criterion  of  successful  college 
work.  Here  the  student  gathers  his  own  material, 
uses  his  own  discrimination,  formulates  his  opinions 
in  the  light  of  numerous  facts  and  opinions,  and 
gains  self-reliance.  It  is  the  scientific  method,  as 
taught  by  Socrates,  applied  to  all  fields  of  study. 
This  is  the  kind  of  work  that  prepares  the  stu- 
dent to  grapple  with  the  practical  problems  of  the 
day. 

The  opinion  that  some  portion  of  the  college 
work  should  be  prescribed  appears  to  be  well  founded. 
This  view  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  many 
high  schools  are  weak  in  one  or  more  depart- 
ments of  preparation.  A  minimum  of  required  work 
in  leading  departments  of  the  college  will  tend  to 
supply  the  deficiencies  of  previous  training.  From 
an  inspection  of  the  latest  college  catalogues  it  ap- 
pears that  all  colleges  exercise  some  kind  of  super- 
vision over  the  choice  of  studies,  and  many  of  them 
prescribe  and  determine  the  order  of  more  than  half 
the  curriculum.  In  choice  of  electives  many  require 
the  group  system,  in  order  that  consistency  may  be 
maintained  and  that  a  definite  result  in  some  line  of 
work  may  be  reached. 

The  line  of  demarcation  between  college  and  uni- 
versity workis  a  variable,  and  the  problem  of  definitely 
locating  it  is  perplexing  in  the  extreme.  Many  be- 
lieve they  see  signs  of  segmentation  at  the  end  of 
the  junior  year  and  predict  that  the  senior  year  will 


124  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

adhere  to  the  graduate  school.  There  are  many 
evidences  that  somewhere  along  the  line  the  period 
of  general  education  will  be  shortened,  and  the  ten- 
dency to  specialize  before  the  end  of  the  college 
course  is  one  proof  that  the  change  is  demanded. 
Historically  the  college  in  America  stands  as  a  whole 
for  liberal  education,  but  in  its  later  development 
the  standard  has  been  advanced  and  the  period  of 
professional  education  has  been  lengthened  until  the 
problem  presents  new  phases  demanding  important 
readjustments.  Replies  recently  received  from  many 
institutions  of  higher  learning,  touching  this  question, 
show  a  variety  of  opinions.  One  correspondent 
pithily  says,  "  Verily,  we  are  a  smattering  folk.  I 
believe  both  the  college  and  the  professional  course 
should  be  lengthened."  President  Eliot  advocates 
"  a  three  years'  course  for  the  A.B.,  without  disguises 
or  complications."  Estimating  the  replies  already 
received  numerically,  something  more  than  half  favor 
some  kind  of  time  readjustment,  to  the  end  that  the 
period  covered  by  the  college  and  the  professional 
school  may  be  shortened  one  year. 

While  defending  liberal  education,  it  may  be  held 
that,  especially  while  a  four  years*  college  course  is 
maintained,  it  should  also  look  toward  the  world  of 
active  influence,  and  the  filling  of  some  vocation 
therein.  The  student's  duties  toward  society  must 
take  on  the  modern  aspect,  as  contrasted  with  the 
self-centred  interest  of  the  mediaeval  recluse.  That 
education  should  aim  at  mere  serene  enjoyment  of 
the  True,  the  Beautiful,  and  the  Good  is  an  idea  of 
the  past.  The  mere  recluse  to-day  has  no  meaning 
and  no  use  in  the  world.     Educated  men  must  join 


COLLEGE  AND    UNIVERSITY.  125 

the  march  of  progress ;  they  must  take  part  in  the 
solution  of  ethical  problems,  in  the  bettering  of 
government  and  society.  The  world  demands  of 
them  altruism,  public  spirit,  high  ideals.  They 
should  mass  the  forces  of  the  past  for  an  onward 
movement  in  the  present.  Old  knowledge  should 
reach  out  toward  new  and  useful  applications. 

To  these  ends  the  college  should  provide  for  a 
deeper  knowledge  of  some  subject  or  group  of  re- 
lated subjects.  This  is  an  essential  element  of  gen- 
eral education,  and  also  has  a  practical  aim.  The 
principles  of  the  philosophical  and  social  sciences 
should  find  concrete  illustration  in  the  present.  And 
above  all,  student  life  should  be  inspired  with  ideas 
of  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  citizenship. 

A  public  statement  has  been  made  that  the 
seniors  of  a  well-known  university  have  less  intel- 
lectual vigor  and  less  moral  power  than  the  average 
man  they  might  meet  on  the  streets.  If  the  charge 
be  true,  it  is  a  matter  for  serious  thought,  but  the 
statement  should  be  swallowed  with  a  large  grain  of 
salt.  It  may,  however,  serve  as  a  text.  The  college 
must  assume  an  amount  of  responsibility  for  the 
character  of  the  undergraduate  student.  There  has 
been  a  natural  reaction  against  some  of  the  unwise 
requirements  of  twenty-five  years  ago,  but  the  reac- 
tion may  have  gone  too  far.  One  of  our  famous 
universities  ten  years  ago  adopted  the  policy  of  leav- 
ing the  student  to  his  own  devices  and  the  moral 
restraint  of  the  policeman,  but  the  plan  was  con- 
demned by  the  patrons  of  the  institution,  and  to-day 
it  exercises  a  wise  and  friendly  care  over  the  stu- 
dent's choice  of  studies,  his  attendance  upon  lee- 


126  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

tures,  and  his  daily  walk  and  conversation.  Entire 
freedom  in  student  life  belongs  only  to  the  gradu- 
ate schools,  and  to  place  both  undergraduate  and 
graduate  students  under  one  system  can  but  prove 
harmful. 

The  ethical  problems  of  college  life  are  not  to  be 
solved  wholly  by  perfunctory  religious  exercises,  but 
by  the  spirit  that  pervades  the  whole  teaching  and 
student  body,  and  by  the  many  ways  and  means 
that  the  united  efforts  of  earnest  and  devoted  facul- 
ties may  employ.  It  is  a  favorable  circumstance  that 
the  student  to  an  extent  can  choose  subjects  in  ac- 
cord with  his  tastes  ;  that  his  powers  may  reach  out 
toward  some  great  intellectual  interest.  That  the 
spirit  of  education  is  broader,  more  liberal,  and  scien- 
tific is  significant ;  the  fact  makes  for  truth  and 
honesty.  The  historical  method  succeeds  the  dog- 
matic in  history,  social  science,  philosophy,  and 
ethics.  Men  are  better  because  they  are  broader  and 
wiser  and  are  coming  to  a  higher  realization  of 
truth. 

No  doubt  the  ethical  life  has  the  deepest  signifi- 
cance for  man.  The  great  Fichte  was  right  in  claim- 
ing that,  if  this  is  merely  a  subjectively  phenomenal 
world,  it  is  a  necessary  creation  of  mind  that  we 
may  have  it  wherein  to  work  and  ethically  develop. 
That  institution  will  turn  out  the  best  men  where 
the  Baconian  philosophy  is  combined  with  the  Pla- 
tonic, the  scientific  with  the  ideal.  By  some  means 
the  student  should  constantly  come  in  contact  with 
strong  manhood  and  high  ideals.  It  makes  a  prac- 
tical difference  whether  the  student  believes  in  his 
transcendent  nature  and  possibilities  or  in  mere  ma- 
terialism and   utilitarianism,  whether  his   ethics    is 


COLLEGE  AND    UNIVERSITY.  127 

ideal   or   hedonistic,  his  view  of   Hfe   optimistic  or 
pessimistic. 

If  the  question  is  made  distinct,  What  should  the 
university  do  for  the  student  ? — there  are  some  ad- 
ditional considerations. 

It  is  enough  to  say  of  graduate  courses  that  they 
should  be  a  warrant  for  extended  and  thorough 
knowledge  of  a  group  of  related  subjects,  and  for 
original  power  to  grasp  and  deal  with  difficult  prob- 
lems. The  candidate's  knowledge  and  power  should 
be  publicly  tested  by  a  good  old-fashioned  examina- 
tion and  defence  of  thesis. 

The  university  should  refuse  to  admit  the  student 
to  the  professional  schools  until  he  has  received  at 
least  the  equivalent  of  a  complete  high-school  edu- 
cation. The  faculties  of  the  University  of  Colorado 
have  made  an  investigation  of  the  standard  of  ad- 
mission to  the  professional  schools,  the  length  of 
professional  courses,  and  the  relation  of  the  profes- 
sional courses  to  the  college.  The  results  are  of  in- 
terest."* Very  few  schools  of  applied  science  in  the 
universities  require  four  years  of  preparation.  Only 
three  or  four  universities  require  that  standard  for 
their  law  or  medical  schools.  Most  catalogues  read 
after  this  fashion :  Admission  to  law  or  medical 
school — a  college  diploma,  or  a  high-school  diploma, 
or  a  second-grade  teacher's  certificate,  or  evidence  of 
fitness  to  pursue  the  subject.     Less  than  half  of  the 

*  During  the  four  years  (1896-1900)  since  this  investigation  was 
made,  there  has  been  great  progress  throughout  the  country.  The 
standard  universities  now  require  at  least  a  high-school  education  for 
admission  to  professional  schools,  and  offer  four  years  in  medicine 
and  three  years  in  law. 


128  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

law  schools  require  entrance  qualifications,  and  only 
twenty  of  them  require  a  three  years'  course.  All 
medical  schools  advocate  a  thorough  scientific  foun- 
dation, many  of  them  in  a  very  ideal  way,  and  urge 
extensive  laboratory  practice  in  many  special  sub- 
jects. The  most  of  them  think  the  first  two  years 
of  a  medical  course  could  well  be  spent  without 
clinical  work.  Many  colleges  and  collegiate  depart- 
ments of  universities  provide  electives  that  are 
accepted  by  some  schools  of  theology,  law,  or  medi- 
cine for  their  regular  first-year  work.  In  rare  in- 
stances, studies  covering  two  years  are  made  common 
to  the  college  and  the  professional  schools.  But 
only  a  few  universities  have  within  their  own  organi- 
zation a  plan  for  shortening  the  period  of  college 
and  professional  study. 

The  "Report  on  Legal  Education,"  1893,  issued 
by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  says : 
"  Admission  to  the  bar  in  all  Continental  (European) 
countries  is  obtained  through  the  universities  which 
are  professional  schools  for  the  four  learned  profes- 
sions— theology,  medicine,  law,  and  philosophy.  In 
England  and  America  the  colleges  and  universities 
are  chiefly  schools  for  general  culture ;  only  a  few 
offer  provision  for  thorough  professional  studies. 
While  in  England  and  America  the  erroneous  idea 
is  still  predominant  that  a  collegiate  education  need 
not  necessarily  precede  professional  study,  in  Conti- 
nental Europe  it  is  made  a  conditio  sine  qua  non. 
No  one  more  needs  than  the  lawyer  the  power  of  gen- 
eral education  to  grasp  all  the  facts  relating  to  a 
subject,  to  weigh  their  value,  discard  the  unessen- 
tial, and  give  prominence  to  the  determining  factors ; 
no  one  more  needs  the  power  to  avoid  fallacies  and 


COLLEGE  AND    UNIVERSITY. 


129 


to  argue  intelligently  scientific  points  which  may  be 
involved  in  litigation.  No  one  more  than  the  phy- 
sician needs  an  acquaintance  with  psychology  and 
philosophy,  with  the  various  sciences  and  the  modern 
languages ;  no  one  more  needs  the  power  of  judg- 
ment in  view  of  seemingly  contradictory  facts  and 
symptoms ;  no  one  more  needs  the  ethical  qual- 
ity of  the  noble  and  honorable  gentleman.  Let  the 
American  universities  maintain  the  standards  which 
in  theory  they  all  are  ready  to  advocate." 
9 


UNIVERSITY   IDEALS* 

To  an  extent  a  university  must  represent  the 
philosophy  of  a  people  at  a  given  epoch,  and  their 
political,  social,  and  industrial  tendencies.  It  sym- 
bolizes the  stage  of  civilization  and  spiritual  insight. 
The  ethical  need  of  the  time  led  to  the  study  of 
philosophy  in  Greece ;  the  innate  regard  of  the 
Roman  people  for  justice  and  the  problems  attend- 
ing the  development  of  the  Empire  emphasized  the 
study  of  law  in  Rome  ;  Christianity  and  the  influence 
of  the  Greek  philosophy  made  theology  the  ideal  of 
the  Middle  Ages ;  the  development  of  the  inductive 
method  places  emphasis  on  physical  science  to-day ; 
the  industrial  spirit  of  America  gives  a  practical  turn 
to  our  higher  education.  It  is  no  mere  accident  that 
the  English  university  is  conservative  and  aristocratic 
and  aims  at  general  culture,  that  the  French  faculties 
are  practical,  or  that  the  German  universities  are 
scientific  and  democratic.  The  differences  in  spirit 
and  method  are  determined  by  factors  that  belong 
to  the  history  and  character  of  the  different 
peoples. 

*  Read  at  the  National  Council  of  Education,  Milwaukee,  July  6, 
1897.  This  is  one  of  three  papers  on  "  University  Ideals"  there 
presented,  the  other  two  representing  respectively  Princeton  and 
Leland  Stanford,  Jr.  The  author  was  requested  to  write  on  "  State 
University  Ideals." 


UNIVERSITY  IDEALS. 


131 


The  colleges  of  New  England  were  founded  on 
the  traditions  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  em- 
bodied their  ideal  and  theological  aims  and  con- 
servative method,  although  they  naturally  were  more 
liberal  and  democratic  than  the  parent  institutions. 
The  history  of  the  early  American  colleges  has  been 
varied,  but  the  more  successful  ones  have  certainly 
become  catholic  and  progressive.  As  the  country 
grew  and  men  pushed  westward,  leaving  tradition 
behind  and  developing  more  freely  the  spirit  of  our 
advancing  civilization,  the  conception  of  a  university, 
in  touch  with  all  the  people,  and  scientific  and  free, 
arose.  Thus  we  have  the  state  university.  At  the 
same  time  the  leading  religious  denominations  have 
vied  with  each  other  in  founding  in  the  new  states 
colleges  or  universities  that  are  more  or  less  denomi- 
national in  spirit  and  aim. 

The  American  university  of  to-day  contains  many 
elements.  Broadly  speaking,  it  represents  the  ideals 
of  the  Platonic  philosophy,  the  direct  inheritance 
from  England,  the  character  of  the  German  university, 
the  modern  scientific  method,  and  the  practical  de- 
mands of  American  civilization.  All  these  elements 
are  woven  into  the  web  of  our  national  life.  There 
is,  of  course,  much  diversity.  Each  class  of  uni- 
versities contains  something  of  all  the  ideals,  but 
each  emphasizes  certain  ones.  The  older  and  larger 
denominational  school  is  more  nearly  the  direct 
representative  of  English  education,  but  has  made 
a  great  advance.  The  state  universities  represent 
the  people  as  such  and  the  tendencies  of  our 
civilization,  but  in  accord  with  the  highest  ideals. 
They  more  readily  accept  the  influence  of  the 
German   university.      The  denominational   colleges 


132 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 


scattered  throughout  the  West  aim  to  perpetuate 
the  denominational  idea. 

Almost  from  the  foundation  of  our  Government 
free  elementary  schools  have  been  regarded  as  an 
essential  and  characteristic  part  of  our  American 
institutions.  They  became  a  logical  necessity  when 
our  forefathers  abjured  the  caste  and  intolerance  of 
the  Old  World,  and  with  prophetic  insight  proclaimed 
the  era  of  a  new  civilization  in  which  the  welfare  of 
the  state  should  mean  the  welfare  of  all  the  people. 
While  the  idea  of  education  at  the  expense  of  the 
state,  and  under  its  control,  was  early  accepted  in 
that  part  of  the  country  which  has  gradually  in- 
fluenced the  whole  nation,  we  of  to-day  have 
witnessed  a  part  of  the  struggle  to  place  on  a  per- 
manent foundation  the  modern  system  of  high 
schools.  These  schools,  especially  in  the  West,  now 
have  an  assured  position  and  command  the  confidence 
of  the  people.  The  attempt  to  take  the  next  step 
and  establish  state  universities  was  met  with  doubt 
and  opposition.  At  a  comparatively  recent  date, 
however,  many  state  universities  have  come  into 
prominence,  and  to-day  they  appear  in  the  main  to 
be  the  coming  institutions  of  university  training  from 
Ohio  to  Oregon,  and  from  Texas  to  Montana.  Here 
is  a  development  that  is  remarkable,  and  we  may  well 
examine  its  significance. 

In  the  first  place  the  state  university  is  the  log- 
ical outcome  of  our  democratic  ideal  that  made 
the  public  schools  a  necessity,  an  outcome  which 
naturally  would  be  first  realized  in  the  newer  states. 
As  America  furnished  new  and  favorable  condi- 
tions for  the  development  of  civilization,  freed   in 


UNIVERSITY  IDEALS, 


133 


part  from  the  traditions  of  the  Old  World,  so  the 
new  states  of  the  West  became  the  field  for  a  still 
more  liberal  growth  of  the  tendencies  of  the  age. 
There  is  a  recognized  tendency  in  our  institutions 
toward  a  broader  community  of  interests  in  respect 
to  many  things  that  affect  the  common  welfare,  and 
in  no  way  does  this  tendency  find  a  grander  ex- 
pression than  in  the  means  for  elevating  the  people 
at  the  expense  of  the  people  to  a  better  citizenship, 
higher  usefulness,  and  wiser  and  nobler  manhood. 
The  safety  of  the  state  depends  upon  giving  the 
brightest  and  best  of  all  classes  and  conditions  an 
opportunity  to  rise  to  the  surface  of  affairs. 

In  Prussia,  Switzerland,  and  Italy  a  healthy  organi- 
zation of  society  is  held  to  depend  upon  public  con- 
trol of  both  secondary  and  higher  education.  Eng- 
land's system  of  education  tends  to  maintain  social 
distinctions  and  an  intellectual  conservatism  that  are 
harmful  both  to  the  aristocracy  and  to  the  common 
people.  Education  in  Germany  shows  its  superiority 
in  that  it  reaches  a  larger  number  of  the  poor  classes 
and  develops  greater  freedom  of  thought.  The 
public  control  of  education  makes  it  democratic  and 
progressive,  and  strengthens  its  influence  with  the 
people.  It  makes  the  scholar  a  leader  in  the  line  of 
advance  indicated  by  the  ideals  of  the  people.  In 
the  American  state  university,  men  come  together 
as  a  faculty,  bringing  with  them  training  and  educa- 
tional ideals  gained  in  the  best  universities  of  the 
world.  They  place  themselves  in  touch  with  the  pub- 
He  schools,  the  press,  and  all  the  state  agencies  of 
influence  and  control.  Knowing  the  needs  and  de- 
mands of  the  people,  they  take  the  lead  in  the  line 
of  natural  progress.     The  state  university  is  insepa- 


134 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 


rably  linked  to  the  state,  and  must  carry  with  it  the 
best  influences  of  the  state,  and  thus  extend  its 
influence  to  the  whole  people. 

The  great  denominational  schools  at  first  repre- 
sented homogeneous  elements  in  the  national  life. 
Harvard  was  essentially  a  state  institution.  It  was 
founded  in  ''■  accord  with  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts."  The  peo- 
ple of  Massachusetts,  at  that  time,  were  largely 
homogeneous  in  race,  religion,  and  love  of  freedom. 
Yale  was  founded  partly  on  the  conservative  Con- 
gregationalism of  Connecticut ;  hence  it  represented 
the  mass  of  people  in  that  State.  Princeton  was 
founded  in  the  interest  of  the  Scotch  and  Scotch- 
Irish  political  and  religious  views  in  the  Middle 
States,  but  was  so  far  catholic  as  to  enlist  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  Dutch  and  the  Quakers.  However,  it 
served  a  comparatively  homogeneous  people.  In 
later  years  each  of  these  universities,  in  order  to  reach 
large  numbers  of  people  maintaining  diverse  views, 
has  been  obliged  to  subordinate  specific  sectarian  or 
denominational  elements  and  emphasize  only  the 
highest  ideals  common  to  its  constituency.  The 
newer  states  of  the  West  have  a  mixed  population 
with  heterogeneous  interests.  Hence  it  follows  that 
not  a  denominational  school,  but  a  state  school, 
broad  enough  for  all  the  people,  alone  can  satisfy 
the  need  of  each  state.  Since  it  is  impossible  to 
maintain  a  real  university  for  each  peculiar  interest, 
all  must  unite  to  support  one  institution,  an  institu- 
tion maintaining  the  highest  ideals  common  to  hu- 
manity, and  specifically  to  our  own  civilization.  The 
ideals  common  to  the  American  people  are  ample 
enough  for  an  ideal  university,  founded  and  main- 


UNIVERSITY  IDEALS. 


135 


tained  by  the  state.  Harvard  or  Princeton  may  say : 
"  We  have  done  for  the  state  all  that  the  state 
university  claims  as  its  function."  Then  let  each 
state  have  a  Princeton  which  from  the  start  is  as- 
sured of  an  adequate  foundation.  In  our  Western 
states  the  same  reason  that  would  create  one  de- 
nominational college  would  create  in  each  state  fif- 
teen or  twenty.  The  history  of  the  world  never  has 
seen  such  a  dissipation  of  educational  energy  as  is 
now  seen  in  America,  and  a  system  of  state  educa- 
tion which  tends  to  correct  the  evil  merits  enthusias- 
tic support.  It  may  be  added  that  the  state  uni- 
versity exists  in  the  West  because  the  majority  of 
the  people  are  coming  to  prefer  that  kind  of  institu- 
tion. 

We  may  say,  then,  that  the  state  university  repre- 
sents (i)  the  completion  of  the  democratic  ideal  of 
public  education ;  (2)  the  unity  of  progress  amidst 
diversity  of  view,  and  the  mutual  influence  of  the 
knowledge  and  power  of  the  scholar  and  the  ideals 
of  the  people  ;  (3)  the  broad  platform  upon  which 
the  heterogeneous  elements  of  the  state  may  unite 
in  the  interest  of  higher  education.  It  is  understood, 
of  course,  that  these  three  statements  are  not  alto- 
gether mutually  exclusive. 

These  views  of  the  raison  d'itre  of  the  state  uni- 
versity lead  directly  to  the  presentation  in  detail  of 
some  facts  in  its  history  and  some  of  its  aims,  show- 
ing that  its  ideals  are  practicable. 

The  state  university  virtually,  if  not  formally,  is  a 
part  of  the  public-school  system.  As  such  it  holds 
a  peculiar  and  influential  relation  toward  the  public 
high  schools.  It  furnishes  teachers  trained  in  the 
university  in  regular  and  pedagogical   courses.     It 


136  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

scrutinizes  the  courses  of  study  and  the  character  of 
the  work,  and  formally  approves  the  schools  of  stand- 
ard merit.  It  helps  in  every  prudent  way  the  influ- 
ence of  the  school  with  the  community.  By  its 
friendly  relation  it  may  present  freely  the  advantages 
of  higher  education  and  thus  reach  a  large  number 
who  would  otherwise  rest  at  the  goal  of  high-school 
graduation.  In  every  state,  through  the  agency  of 
the  university,  the  number  of  high  schools  is  materi- 
ally increased,  and  their  standards,  plan  of  organiza- 
tion, and  methods  are  improved.  Moreover,  it  gives 
the  promise  of  something  beyond  that  stimulates  the 
efforts  of  pupils  in  every  grade  of  work. 

The  connection  between  the  high  school  and  the 
university  still  gives  rise  to  troublesome  problems, 
not  alone  in  this  country.  The  ideals  of  the  older 
American  university  are  often  at  variance  with  the 
systematic  development  of  education  below  the 
university  and  the  demands  of  the  people.  The 
state  university  has  come  nearer  than  any  other  to 
the  solution.  While  Harvard  and  Yale  met  the 
growing  demands  of  science  by  establishing  separate 
schools,  Michigan  introduced  the  scientific  course 
into  the  college,  making  it  rank  with  the  classical. 
This  plan,  generally  adopted  by  the  state  universi- 
ties, places  them  nearly  in  line  with  the  natural  de- 
velopment of  the  public-school  system.  The  state 
universities  also  show  their  regard  for  popular  de- 
mand by  admitting  special  students. 

By  offering  free  tuition,  the  state  university  reaches 
many  who  would  otherwise  fail  to  enjoy  higher 
training.  It  tends  to  equalize  the  conditions  for 
rich  and  poor  in  the  struggle  for  the  survival  of  the 
fittest. 


UNIVERSITY  IDEALS.  137 

The  state  university,  as  it  develops  and  realizes 
its  true  function,  must  be  thoroughly  catholic  in 
spirit,  because  it  stands  for  humanity,  truth,  and 
progress.  Nowhere  is  the  professor  or  the  scholar 
permitted  to  use  such  intellectual  freedom  as  in  the 
state  university  in  Germany,  and  in  the  natural 
course  of  events  the  same  freedom  will  be  allowed  in 
the  United  States.  Not  only  will  the  free  and  in- 
ventive spirit  become  characteristic,  but  our  West- 
ern universities,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
advanced  ideas  of  civilization,  must  furnish  some  of 
the  most  important  contributions  to  the  study  of  all 
social,  economic,  and  ethical  problems. 

In  the  state  universities  the  mental  and  moral  at- 
mosphere is  healthful.  A  strong,  honest  manhood 
is  cultivated.  There  all  ideals  are  strongly  main- 
tained, not  according  to  a  particular  creed,  but  with 
regard  to  all  the  implications  of  man's  higher  nature. 
All  influences  tend  to  make  citizens  who  are  in 
harmony  with  the  national  spirit.  An  extended  ac- 
quaintance with  graduates  of  various  state  universi- 
ties shows  that,  as  a  whole,  they  are  broad-minded 
citizens,  loyal  to  the  public  interest. 

The  relation  of  the  religious  denominations  to  the 
state  university  is  one  that  commands  serious  atten- 
tion. The  university  says  to  each  class  of  people : 
"•  Here  is  an  institution  which  is  equally  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  all — it  is  yours.  Its  platform,  founded 
on  ideals  of  truth,  beauty,  and  goodness,  is  as  broad 
as  humanity.  Since  there  must  be  diversity  of  re- 
ligious views,  establish  your  theological  schools, 
halls,  guilds,  or  professorships  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
university,  and,  making  use  of  what  the  state  offers, 
supplement  in  your  own  way  the  work  of  the  state.** 


138  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

The  plan  is  in  the  highest  degree  economical ;  it 
combines  unity  of  effort  with  variety  of  independent 
view ;  it  makes  the  general  good  and  the  special  in- 
terest mutually  helpful.  It  is  the  plan  of  business 
common  sense  and  of  wise  insight  into  the  problems 
of  the  age.  That  the  denominations — granting  their 
point  of  view — should  join  their  interest  with  that 
of  the  state  university  is  shown  also  by  the  fact  that 
often  a  given  denomination  finds  more  of  its  students 
there  than  at  its  church  school. 

Many  state  universities  are  beginning  to  receive 
private  endowment.  Every  consideration  of  public 
interest  in  each  state  should  turn  the  contributions 
for  education  toward  the  one  great  centre  of  learning. 
Very  few  states  can  support  more  than  one  such 
centre.  Libraries,  art  collections,  museums,  labora- 
tories, buildings,  well-endowed  chairs,  beautiful 
grounds,  should  testify  to  the  munificence  of  private 
wealth  as  well  as  to  the  benefactions  of  the  state. 

Speaking  generally,  the  state  universities  have 
large  incomes  and  good  facilities.  They  require  high 
standards  for  admission  and  graduation.  Wherever 
feasible,  they  maintain  professional  schools  and 
schools  of  applied  science.  They  do  this  upon  the 
theory  that  the  state  should  both  regulate  and  pro- 
vide professional  education  in  the  interest  of  proper 
standards,  and  that,  in  the  interest  of  the  state  and 
of  the  individual,  such  education  should  be  made 
available  to  the  sons  of  the  poor.  Every  leading 
state  university  is  developing  a  graduate  school. 

In  the  matter  of  electives,  the  state  university  occu- 
pies a  middle  ground.  Yale  and  Princeton  represent 
the  conservative  side,  and  Harvard  and  Stanford  the 
liberal  extreme.    An  examination  of  the  curricula  of 


UNIVERSITY  IDEALS.  1 39 

ten  leading  state  universities  shows  that  the  require- 
ments for  admission  are  definitely  prescribed,although 
two  or  more  courses  are  recognized  ;  that  about  half 
the  college  studies  are  required,  while  the  remaining 
half  are  offered  as  group  or  free  electives.  The  state 
universities  naturally  show  a  tendency  toward  the 
German  university  system. 

In  America  the  college  has  been  frankly  maintained 
in  accord  with  Platonic  ideals.  A  full  rounded  man- 
hood, drawing  its  power  from  each  chief  source  of 
knowledge,  and  prepared  in  a  general  way  for  every 
practical  activity,  has  been  the  aim.  The  American 
college  is  dear  to  the  people,  and  it  has  done  much 
to  make  strong  men  who  have  powerfully  influenced 
the  nation.  There  are,  however,  various  tendencies 
which  are  likely  to  modify  the  whole  organization  of 
the  American  university,  including  that  of  the  college. 

The  recent  tendency  toward  free  election,  reaching 
even  into  the  high  school,  is  a  subject  of  animated 
controversy.  This  tendency  I  have  frequently  dis- 
cussed elsewhere,  and  must  still  maintain  that,  in  its 
extreme  form,  it  is  irrational.  One  university  of  high 
standing  makes  it  possible  to  enter  its  academic  de- 
partment and  graduate  without  mathematics,  science, 
or  classics.  This  is  an  extreme  that  is  not  likely  to 
be  sanctioned  by  the  educational  world.  If  there  is 
a  human  type  with  characteristics  by  which  it  is  de- 
fined— ^characteristics  which  can  be  developed  only 
by  looking  toward  each  field  of  knowledge — then  a 
secondary  and  higher  education  which  makes  possi- 
ble the  entire  omission  of  any  important  group  of 
subjects  is  likely  to  prove  a  great  wrong  to  the  aver- 
age student.     According  to  some  high  educational 


140  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

authorities,  no  one  can  be  called  liberally  educated 
who  does  not  at  least  possess  knowledge  of  (i)  mathe- 
matics and  science,  (2)  language  and  literature,  (3) 
philosophy.  Philosophy,  as  it  was  in  Greece  and  as 
it  is  in  Germany,  may  become  a  larger  factor  in  our 
American  education. 

There  is  another  tendency  which  is  working  toward 
an  inevitable  result.  The  average  American  student 
who  desires  higher  or  professional  education  will  not 
spend  four  years  in  high  school,  four  years  in  college, 
and  three  or  four  years  in  a  graduate  or  professional 
school.  There  is  a  movement  to  shorten  in  some 
manner  the  whole  course  of  education.  Already 
many  colleges  and  collegiate  departments  of  univer- 
sities offer  electives  that  will  count  for  one  or  two 
years  of  law,  medicine,  or  theology.  Already  the 
university  system  in  the  form  of  group  electives  is 
introduced  into  the  last  two  years  of  college. 

The  outcome  will  probably  be  a  gradual  reorgan- 
ization of  the  high-school  studies  and  those  of  the 
first  two  or  three  years  of  college.  The  new  curricu- 
lum should  lay  for  the  student  a  broad  and  firm 
foundation  in  knowledge  and  power  for  all  subsequent 
aptitudes.  Upon  this  should  be  built  the  graduate 
school,  the  professional  school,  and  perhaps  the  school 
of  technology.  In  this  plan  the  American  college 
need  not  be  lost,  for  the  bachelor's  degree  could  be 
granted  for  a  given  amount  of  work  beyond  the  col- 
lege in  the  graduate  school.  The  claim  that  the 
student  should  begin  university  work  almost  any- 
where along  the  line  of  education,  before  laying  a 
complete  foundation  for  a  specialty,  appears  absurd. 
It  may  be  added  that  only  by  partial  reorganization 
of  our  educational  system  can  the  admission  standard 


UNIVERSITY  IDEALS.  141 

to  the  American  professional  school  ever  be  made 
respectable. 

The  scientific  spirit — the  term  is  used  in  the  broadest 
sense — in  all  investigation  and  instruction  is  a  most 
encouraging  feature  of  present  tendencies.  If  the 
American  professor  cannot  always  be  an  original  in- 
vestigator, he  may  keep  abreast  of  investigation  and 
impart  its  inspiration  to  the  student.  To  this  end 
the  Lehrfreiheity  freedom  in  teaching,  is  necessary. 
It  is  a  sad  comment  that  the  spirit  of  the  inquisition 
has  recently  appeared  in  a  New  England  university. 
The  professor's  thought  must  not  be  prescribed  for 
him  by  any  creed,  religious,  political,  or  scientific.  Of 
course,  he  must  stand  on  the  safe  foundation  of 
the  past — he  is  not  expected  to  soar  in  a  balloon  or 
leap  over  a  precipice.  A  recent  work  on  "  The  Ideal 
of  Universities  "  says :  "  We  can  distinguish  four  chief 
currents  in  the  theology  of  the  present  era :  (i)  The 
Roman  Catholic  ;  (2)  the  Protestant ;  (3)  that  objec- 
tive-historic theology  which  simply  states  the  origin 
and  development  of  the  Christian  doctrine ;  and  (4) 
the  inception  of  a  theology  based  upon  recognized 
facts  of  science,  of  human  nature,  and  of  history." 
All  philosophy  of  nature  and  of  human  nature  must 
become  truth-seeking  —  this  is  a  mere  truism.  No 
philosophy  or  belief  can  afford  to  maintain  any  other 
attitude.  Leaders  in  the  orthodox  churches  are 
teaching  us  this  fact  by  their  bearing  toward  new 
conceptions.  And  we  need  have  no  fear  of  the  out- 
come. The  highest  ideals  and  hopes  of  humanity 
will  be  confirmed  by  the  most  thorough  investigation 
in  which  metaphysics  shall  use  the  contribution  of 
every  department  of  objective  and  subjective  science. 
A  course  in  theology,  scientific  theology,  should  be 


142 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


found  in  every  university,  including  the  state  univer- 
sity— and  some  dare  to  think  the  latter  is  the  place 
for  it.  The  facts  of  man's  higher  intellectual  and 
emotional  life  are  the  most  important  data  for  inves- 
tigation. 

The  doctrine  of  Lernfreiheit,  the  freedom  of  the 
student,  unhappily  has  been  ignorantly  applied  in 
this  country.  It  may  properly  be  employed  for  the 
German  university  student  at  the  age  of  twenty 
to  twenty-five,  after  his  training  in  the  gymnasium, 
but  not  to  the  American  college  student  at  the  age 
of  eighteen  to  twenty-two.  In  America  it  may  ap- 
ply to  the  students  in  the  graduate  school.  Some 
American  colleges  have  tried  the  extreme  theory  of 
mental  and  moral  freedom  for  the  college  student, 
and  have  learned  from  an  unsatisfactory  experience 
the  lesson  of  a  wise  conservatism. 

The  old  struggle  between  science  and  the  humani- 
ties still  goes  on.  We  must  adopt  a  view  of  education 
which  regards  the  nature  of  man  and  its  adapta- 
tion to  the  whole  environment,  including  its  histori- 
cal element.  In  a  keen  analysis  of  the  nature  of 
things  we  shall  not  find  Greek  and  Latin,  but  we 
shall  find  them  historically  in  our  language  and 
literature,  and  in  the  generic  concepts  of  our  civili- 
zation. Hence  they  are  a  necessary  part  of  any 
extended  study  of  language,  literature,  or  art. 

We  do  not  believe  that  the  practical  tendency  of 
American  education  will  destroy  our  reverence  for 
what  the  Germans  call  the  philosophical  faculty  in 
the  university.  The  liberal  arts,  including  pure  sci- 
ence, are  the  gems  of  human  culture,  and  are  given 
a  high  value  even  in  the  imagination  of  the  ignorant. 
The  editor  of  "  The  Cosmopolitan  "  draws  a  bold  and 


UNIVERSITY  IDEALS. 


143 


somewhat  original  outline  for  modern  education,  and 
it  is  in  many  ways  suggestive.  But  the  author  over- 
looks what  every  true  scholar  knows,  that  thorough 
scientific  knowledge  of  principles  must  remain  the 
fundamental  work  of  education  and  the  substantial 
ground  of  progress  in  civilization.  A  university 
course  may  not  consist  chiefly  of  lectures  upon  pru- 
dential maxims,  such  as  all  must  learn  partly  from 
experience.  Such  a  theory  would  award  the  palm, 
not  to  Socrates,  but  to  the  Sophists.  The  truth  in 
all  the  clamor  for  practical  work  in  the  college  is 
that  the  culture  studies  must  be  vivified  by  closer 
relation  to  the  real  world  and  to  modern  life. 

Little  has  been  said  of  what  is  called  the  graduate 
school.  Germany  credits  us  with  eleven  institutions 
that  have  either  reached  the  standard  of  a  genuine 
university  or  are  rapidly  approaching  it.  Of  these 
eleven,  five  are  state  universities.  This  estimate,  of 
course,  is  made  in  accord  with  the  plan  and  standard 
of  the  German  university.  It  appears  certain  that  in 
time  the  name  university  in  America  will  be  applied 
only  to  those  institutions  which  maintain  the  graduate 
school  and  raise  the  dignity  of  the  professional 
schools.  The  university  system  will  develop  freely 
in  this  country  only  after  a  somewhat  important  re- 
organization of  our  higher  education.  The  line 
must  be  drawn  more  sharply  between  foundation 
education  and  university  work,  the  whole  period 
of  education  must  be  somewhat  shortened,  and,  in 
most  of  our  universities,  the  graduate  faculty  must 
be  strengthened.  That  these  changes  will  be  wrought, 
and  that  we  shall  have  a  rapid  development  of  the 
genuine  university  is  certain.  Much  is  to  be  ex- 
pected from  our  higher  scholarship  in  many  lines  of 


i 


144 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


investigation.  In  America,  men  are  solving  prob- 
lems the  existence  of  which  has  only  been  dimly- 
conceived  by  the  masses  of  people  in  the  Old  World. 
Inspired  by  our  advanced  conceptions  of  government 
and  society,  and  by  the  free,  inventive,  truth-seeking 
spirit  characteristic  of  our  people,  the  American 
scholar  will  make  leading  contributions  to  the  world's 
literature  of  sociology,  politics,  and  science.  And 
when  the  spirit  of  reality,  now  superficial,  gains  a 
deeper  insight  into  the  nature  of  things,  America 
may  yet  lead  the  world  in  those  investigations  which 
belong  to  the  sphere  of  philosophy. 


GENERAL   EDUCATION   PRACTICAL. 

I  The  possibilities  of  education  depend  upon  inborn  | 
capacities,  but  the  unfolding  of  them  is  education. 
A  man  of  large  capacity,  born  among  savages,  remains 
a  savage,  an  Arab  is  a  Mohammedan,  an  Englishman 
is  a  Christian,  a  child  among  thieves  is  a  thief,  a 
child  in  a  home  of  culture  imbibes  refinement  and 
truth.  Tennyson,  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  would 
not  have  developed  his  exquisite  rhyme  and  rhythm, 
metaphor  and  verse,  and  polish  and  sparkle  of  ex- 
pression, would  not  have  conceived  thoughts  that 
penetrate  the  earth  and  the  nature  of  man,  and 
shoot  upward  to  the  quivering  stars ;  he  would  have 
mused  under  his  palm  tree,  and  have  fed,  perhaps 
somewhat  daintily,  upon  unlucky  missionaries.  An 
African  of  natural  ability  in  the  homes  of  Massa- 
chusetts, under  the  influence  of  Harvard,  would  be- 
come a  man  of  vigorous  thought  and  fine  feeling, 
possibly  of  genius. 

\  Since  education  is  so  potent,  what  shall  the  nature 
of  it  be  ?  Shall  knowledge  of  mountain  and  forest 
and  the  seasons,  and  the  common  sense  that  grows 
from  experience,  and  the  practical  power  to  read  and 
compute  be  sufficient  ?  If  all  minds  were  equal,  if 
the  stores  of  wisdom  were  valueless,  if  special  inves- 
tigators found  nothing  worth  revealing,  if  thoughts 
of  master  minds  did  not  inspire,  if  men,  like  brutes, 
were  governed  by  instincts  and  had  no  possibilities 


146  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

beyond   a  certain  physical   skill,  the   education   of 
nature  might  suffice. 

This  is  a  practical  age,  and  no  picture  too  bright 
can  be  drawn  of  the  advantages  of  a  high  material 
civilization  for  bettering  the  condition  of  all  classes 
of  men.  The  necessity  of  being  an  active  factor  in 
the  world  of  usefulness  cannot  be  too  strongly  urged. 

•   But  our  material  progress  is  dependent  upon  ^o^r^^ 
activity.      This    activity    is    nourished    by   general 
education.      Soul    activity   finds    expression    in    a 

/  thousand  practical  ways.  We  educate  highly  that 
the  man  may  have  more  power,  that  he  may  have 
many  resources,  that  he  may  do  better  what  he  has 

,    to  do,  and  may  not  be  dependent  on  one  means  of 

'  support  or  one  set  of  conditions.  It  is  not  so  much 
labor  with  the  hands  as  intelligent  directive  power 
which  is  needed,  and  this  power  is  largely  derived 

j    from  general  education.     Intelligent  men  are  intel- 

!  ligent  laborers.  An  educated  man  will  learn  more 
quickly,  work  more  successfully,  and  attain  a  higher 
standard  than  the  ignorant  artisan.  Theory  teaches 
and  practice  proves  that  in  business  and  manual  pur- 
suits educated  men  bring  an  intelligence  to  their 
work  and  accomplish  results  impossible  for  the  igno- 
rant man ;  that,  as  a  class,  they  average  high  in  all 
practical  activities.  There  should  be  no  haste  to 
enter  a  trade.  Life  is  long  enough  to  accomplish  all 
that  may  be  done,  and  all  the  preparation  made  for 

I  its  duties  is  a  wise  economy.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
here  to  state  the  inference  that  general  education  is 
practical  education. 

The  demand  for  less  of  general  education  before 
the  special  is  prominent.  This  demand  does  not 
necessarily  imply  that  its  authors  believe  there  is  too 


GENERAL  EDUCATION  PRACTICAL. 


H7 


i 


much  preparation  for  life  work  ;  indeed,  few  of  them 
would  wish  that  preparation  to  be  less  ;  they  would 
simply  change  the  ratio  between  general  and  special 
training.  We  believe  that  a  critical  examination  of 
rational  courses  of  study  in  the  schools  would  show 
that  little  of  the  work  could  well  be  omitted  ;  that 
nearly  all  contributes  toward  the  end  of  a  well- 
rounded  education,  indeed  is  necessary  to  that  end ; 
and  that  the  training  of  faculty  is  only  well  begun  at 
the  end  of  the  high-school  course.  Even  the  study 
of  the  classics,  besides  other  incidental  advantages, 
trains  the  critical  powers,  refines  the  taste,  and  is  in 
an  important  sense  a  subjective  study.  The  infer- 
ence is  that,  with  less  of  general  education,  the  forces 
of  one's  being  would  not  be  properly  trained  and 
marshalled  for  active  service  in  life. 

If  we  define  practical  education  as  that  which  is 
capable  of  being  turned  to  use  or  account,  a  high 
degree  of  general  education  before  the  special  is 
eminently  practical,  inasmuch  as  it  broadens  and 
heightens  a  man's  possibilities.  Moreover,  it  is  of 
service  to  all  that  even  a  few  should  be  educated 
ideally.  Such  education  places  ideals  before  men 
which  tend  to  elevate  them.  We  cannot  easily 
estimate  the  value  to  the  world  of  a  genius,  one  of 
those  men  who  stand  on  nature's  heights  and  see 
with  clear  vision,  and  proclaim  the  glories  of  their 
view  to  listening  men,  who  picture  at  least  feebly  the 
things  described.  They  are  the  heralds  of  new 
events,  the  inspirers  of  progress.  A  highly  educated 
man,  though  not  a  genius,  in  a  way  may  occupy  a 
similar  place,  and  may  repay  by  his  influence,  many 
times,  in  practical  ways,  the  expense  of  his  education. 
Societies  of  laborers  are  already  beginning  to  ascribe 


148  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

their  troubles  in  part  to  lack  of  education,  and  are 
looking  to  education  as  a  means  of  improving  their 
condition.  General  education  is  practical  education. 
While  every  boy  should  be  taught  to  earn  a  liv- 
ing, this  should  not  be  done  needlessly  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  higher  development  of  the  faculties. 
Too  much  attention  to  the  practical  dwarfs  the 
powers,  limits  the  horizon,  and  will  result  in  the  de- 
struction of  that  spirit  which  makes  a  strong  national 
character.  There  is  little  need  to  urge  the  practical ; 
the  more  immediate  and  obvious  motives  constantly 
draw  men  toward  it.  The  refinements  of  the  soul 
are  at  first  less  inviting ;  they  are  hard  to  gain  and 
easy  to  lose.  Carlyle  says  :  "  By  our  skill  in  Mechan- 
ism, it  has  come  to  pass  that,  in  the  management  of 
external  things,  we  excel  all  other  ages,  while  in 
whatever  respects  the  pure  moral  nature,  in  true 
dignity  of  soul  and  character,  we  are,  perhaps,  in- 
ferior to  most  civilized  ages.  .  .  .  The  infinite, 
absolute  character  of  Virtue  has  passed  into  a  finite, 
conditioned  one ;  it  is  no  longer  a  worship  of  the 
Beautiful  and  Good,  but  a  calculation  of  the  profit- 
able. .  .  .  Our  true  deity  is  Mechanism.  It  has 
subdued  external  nature  for  us,  and  we  think  it 
will  do  all  other  things."  Carlyle  possessed  a  true 
insight  when  he  penned  these  words.  Popular  de- 
mands tend  to  make  the  age  more  unpoetic  than  it 
is.  In  this  age  the  tourney  has  been  converted  into 
a  fair;  the  vision  of  the  poet  is  obscured  by  the 
smoke  of  factories ;  Apollo  no  longer  leads  the 
Immortal  Nine  upon  Parnassus;  and  we  would 
dethrone  the  gods  from  Olympus. 

Men  and  peoples  have  made  permanent  contribu- 


GENERAL  EDUCATION  PRACTICAL.  149 

tions  to  the  world's  progress,  not  by  military  achieve- 
ment or  accumulation  of  wealth,  but  by  the  some- 
thing better  called  culture.  The  glory  of  the  Greeks 
lay  not  in  their  civil  wars,  but  in  the  spirit  brought 
to  the  defence  of  their  country  at  Thermopylae  ;  not 
in  the  cost  and  use  of  their  temples  and  statuary, 
but  in  the  art  that  found  expression  in  them  ;  not 
in  their  commerce,  but  in  the  lofty  views  of  their  phil- 
osophers and  the  skill  of  their  poets.  Men  admire 
that  which  ennobles,  without  thought  of  price  or  util- 
ity, and  the  world  still  demands  liberal  education. 
Literature  and  philosophy  have  much  more  in  them 
for  the  average  student  than  has  yet  been  gained 
from  them.  The  aesthetic  side  of  literature  is  too 
often  condemned  or  neglected.  There  is  genuine 
education  in  all  aesthetic  power,  even  in  the  lower 
form  of  appreciation  of  the  ludicrous,  the  power  to 
observe  fine  distinctions  of  incongruity.  We  say  a 
thing  is  perfectly  ludicrous,  perfectly  grotesque,  and 
thereby  recognize  the  art  idea,  namely,  perfection  in 
execution.  Man  is  always  striving  to  attain  the  per- 
fect in  some  form,  and  the  art  idea  is  one  of  the 
highest  in  the  field  of  education.  Art  leans  toward 
the  side  of  feeling,  but  is  none  the  less  rich  and 
valuable  for  that.  Shakespeare  furnishes  some  of 
the  highest  types  of  art  in  literature.  The  flow  of 
his  verse,  the  light  beauty  of  his  sonnets,  the  bold- 
ness and  wonderful  aptness  of  his  metaphors,  the 
skill  of  his  development,  the  ever-varying  types,  the 
humor,  the  joys,  the  sorrows,  the  wisdom,  the  folly 
of  men,  the  condensation  of  events  and  traits  and 
experiences  in  individual  types,  the  philosophical 
and  prophetic  insight,  the  artistic  whole  of  his  plays, 
constitute  a  rich  field  of  education. 


150  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

The  Gothic  cathedral,  with  its  pointed  arch,  its 
mullioned  window,  tapering  spire,  and  upward-run- 
ning lines,  indicating  the  hope  and  aspiration  of  the 
middle  ages,  with  its  cruciform  shape,  typical  of  the 
faith  of  the  Christian,  is  more  than  the  stone  and 
mortar  of  which  it  is  constructed.  The  truly  edu- 
cated man  in  art  perceives  the  adaptation,  polish, 
and  perfection  in  literature  ;  discovers  the  grace,  the 
just  proportions,  the  ideal  form  and  typical  idea  in 
sculpture  ;  views  the  expression,  grouping,  sentiment, 
coloring,  and  human  passion  in  painting ;  enjoys  the 
harmonies,  movements,  and  ideas  in  music,  that  com- 
bination of  effects  that  makes  subtile  and  evasive 
metaphors ;  discovers  the  conventionalized  forms  and 
mute  symbols,  the  "  frozen  music  "  of  architecture  ; 
finds  grandeur  in  the  mountains,  glory  in  the  sunset, 
metaphors  of  thought  in  every  form  of  nature; 
laughs  with  the  morning  breeze,  finds  strength  in  the 
giant  oak,  and  sorrow  in  the  drooping  willow. 
If,  We  need  the  ideal.  Let  us  not  permit  the  mortal 
body  to  lord  it  too  much  over  the  immortal  spirit. 
The  ideal  man  is  the  purpose  of  education  and  the 
ahiL.of  existence,_OT  life  is  not_\vorth  living.  All 
material  prosperity  is  naught  except  as  contributing 
to  that  end.  Sympathetic  spirits  are  calling  for  more 
enlightenment  and  enjoyment,  and  leisure  for  the 
laboring  classes.  They  believe  that  men  should  be 
men  as  well  as  machines,  and  that,  if  they  are  edu- 
cated ideally,  the  practical  will  take  care  of  itself. 
If  we  retain  our  belief  in  the  high  possibilities  of  the 
human  soul,  we  shall  have  faith  in  ideal  education, 
and  shall  confidently  offer  every  opportunity  for  the 
highest  development  possible  of  the  child's  power 
for  knowledge,  enjoyment,  and  action.    And  let  his 


GENERAL   EDUCATION  PRACTICAL.  151 

development  be  full  and  rounded.  Let  the  roar  of 
ocean  and  the  sough  of  the  pines  make  music  for  his 
ears  as  well  as  the  whir  of  factories ;  let  the  starry- 
heavens  speak  to  his  soul  as  vividly  as  the  electric 
lamp  to  his  eye.  Let  us  evolve  from  the  material 
present  ideals  that  shall  stand  in  place  of  the 
vanished  ones. 


ELEMENTS    OF  AN   IDEAL 
LIFE. 


ELEMENTS    OF    AN    IDEAL 
LIFE. 

THE   MODERN   GOSPEL  OF  WORK. 

A  GENTLEMAN  who  had  resided  some  years  in 
Central  and  South  America,  conversing  one  evening 
with  friends  upon  a  doctrine  of  happiness,  illus- 
trated his  argument  with  an  anecdote.  A  Yankee 
living  in  So.uth  America  observed  that  the  native 
bees  had  no  care  for  the  morrow.  He  thought  to 
make  a  fortune  by  bringing  hard-working  honey 
bees  from  the  North  to  this  land  of  perennial  flowers, 
where  they  could  store  up  honey  the  year  around, 
and  he  tried  the  experiment.  The  bees  worked 
eagerly  for  a  time,  but  soon  discovered  that  there 
was  no  winter  in  this  paradise,  and  they  perched  on 
the  flowers  and  trees  and  dozed  the  livelong  day^ 
Our  philosopher  assumed  that  the  indolent,  improv- 
ident life  of  the  ignorant  natives  of  sunny  climes  is 
the  one  of  real  happiness,  and  that  a  life  of  great 
activity  is  not  to  be  desired.  If  his  theory  holds, 
then  the  savage  under  his  palm  tree  is  happier  than 
the  civilized  man  of  the  temperate  zone,  the  mon- 
key in  the  tropical  jungle  is  better  off  than  the  sav- 
age, and  the  clam  is  happiest  of  all. 

An  observant  traveller,  returning  by  the  southern 
route  from  California,  studies  Indians  of  various 
tribes  at  successive  stages   of  the  journey.     Near 


156  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

the  Mohave  desert  he  sees  abject  beings  loafing 
about  the  railway  station  to  beg  from  the  curious 
passengers  ;  further  east  he  sees  self-respecting  red 
people  offering  for  sale  pottery  or  blankets — their 
own  handiwork  ;  later  he  notes  members  of  another 
tribe  working  on  railroad  construction  by  the  side 
of  white  laborers  ;  as  he  approaches  the  settled 
region  he  observes  yet  others  who  haver  homes  and 
farms  and  engage  in  civilized  industry,  and  his 
thought  runs  along  the  ascending  scale  of  being 
until  he  contemplates  the  highest  energy  of  the  most 
cultured  and  forceful  minds  of  our  best  civilization. 
He  instinctively  decides  that  the  desirable  life  is  on 
the  upper  scale  of  intelligence,  feeling,  and  action. 

Happiness  through  work  is  the  creed^f  the  dawn- 
ing century.  The  romance  of  chivalry  gives  place 
to  the  poetry  of  steam  ;  democracy  is  teaching 
wealth  and  position  the  dignity  of  labor  ;  evolution 
and  psychology  show  action  to  be  the  consummate 
flower  of  thought  and  feeling  ;  recent  literature 
illustrates  the  gospel  of  effort  ;  and  religion  reaffirms 
the  doctrine  that  faith  without  works  is  dead. 
^  Herbert  Spencer's  philosophy  defines  life  to  be 
"  the  continuous  adjustment  of  internal  relations  to 
external  relations."  This  adjustment  implies  self- 
activity.  If  man  has  been  evolved  through  a  long 
period  of  change,  he  is  a  survival  of  the  fittest  in 
the  struggle  for  existence.  His  ancestral  history  is 
one  of  exertion,  his  powers  have  been  developed  by 
use,  he  maintains  himself  by  striving,  his  normal 
state  is  in  the  field  of  labor,  and  logically  it  is  there 
his  welfare  and  happiness  are  found. 

Max  Nordau  wrote  a  book  on  '  *  Degeneration. ' '    It 
contains  much  interesting  matter,  many  wholesome 


THE  MODERN  GOSPEL   OF    WORK. 


157 


suggestions,  and  considerable  false  theory.  He 
claims  that  the  demands  of  modern  civilization  place 
men  under  too  great  a  strain,  that  the  human  race 
is  tending  toward  insanity,  and  that  by  and  by  we 
shall  stop  our  daily  newspapers,  remove  the  tele- 
phones from  our  homes,  and  return  to  a  life  of 
greater  simplicity.  It  is  true  that  tension  never 
relaxed  loses  its  spring,  and  worry  kills,  but  the  most 
potent  causes  of  degeneration  are  false  pleasures  and 
lack  of  healthful  work.  Evolution's  most  important 
ethical  maxim  is  that  deadheads  in  society  degenerate 
as  do  parasites  in  the  lower  animal  kingdom.  Every 
idler  violates  a  great  law  of  his  being,  which  demands 
that  thought  and  feeling  shall  emerge  in  action. 
Every  class  of  people  has  its  idlers,  men  who  desire 
to  possess  without  earning.  The  aimless  son  of 
wealth  and  the  tramp  tread  the  same  path.  Uni- 
versal interest  in  honest,  healthful  employment 
would  cure  nearly  all  the  evils  of  society  and  state. 
Manual  labor  is  the  first  moral  lesson  for  the  street 
Arab  and  the  criminal,  and  the  best  cure  for  some 
species  of  insanity.  True  charity  does  not  give 
when  it  can  provide  the  chance  to  earn.  Idlers, 
lacking  the  normal  source  of  happiness,  seek  harm- 
ful pleasures,  and  learn  sooner  or  later  that  for  every 
silver  joy  they  must  pay  in  golden  sorrow.  False 
stimuli,  false  excitement,  purposeless  activities,  take 
the  place  of  vocation.  Tramps  are  not  the  only 
vagabonds  ;  there  are  mental  and  moral  vagabonds 
whom  a  fixed  purpose,  a  definite  interest  and  prin- 
ciples of  conduct  would  turn  from  degeneration  to 
regeneration.  Balzac,  with  his  keen  analysis,  de- 
scribes the  career  of  a  graceless  spendthrift  who, 
finally  weary  of  himself,  one  day  resolved   to  give 


158  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

himself  some  reason  for  living.  Under  good  influ- 
ences he  took  up  a  life  of  regularity,  simplicity,  and 
usefulness,  and  learned  that  men's  happiness  and 
saneness  of  mind  are  proportionate  to  their  labors. 
This  is  the  great  lesson  of  Goethe's  "  Faust,"  set  in 
imperishable  drama  for  the  instruction  of  the  ages. 
Balzac's  Cur^  of  Montegnac  speaks  to  a  repentant 
criminal  :  "  There  is  no  sin  beyond  redemption 
through  the  good  works  of  repentance.  For  you, 
work  must  be  prayer.  The  monasteries  wept,  but 
acted  too  ;  they  prayed,  but  they  civilized.  Be 
yourself  a  monastery  here."  Repentance,  prayer, 
work — these  are  the  way  of  salvation. 

Every  man  of  broad  mind  has  full  regard  for  the 
problems  of  labor  and  has  faith  in  a  progress  that 
shall  mean  better  conditions  for  the  less  fortunate, 
but  Edwin  Markham's  "  Man  With  the  Hoe,"  as 
applied,  not  to  special  and  extreme  conditions  of 
hardship,  but  in  general  to  the  problems  of  the 
human  race,  is  wrong  at  the  foundation  ;  it  is 
neither  correct  science,  good  philosophy,  nor  accu- 
rate history.  It  is  the  doctrine  of  the  fall  of  man 
rather  than  of  the  ascent  of  man  ;  it  is  the  doctrine 
that  labor  is  a  curse.  Without  the  hoe  the  human 
race  would  be  chimpanzees,  savages,  tramps  and 
criminals.  In  human  development  no  useful  labor 
ever  "  loosened  and  let  down  the  brutal  jaw"  or 
"  slanted  back  the  brow"  or  "  blew  out  the  light 
within  the  brain"  or  deprived  man  of  his  birth- 
right. At  a  stage  of  his  progress,  by  cultivating 
the  soil  man  of  necessity  cultivates  his  soul.  The 
hoe  has  been  an  indispensable  instrument  to  the 
growth  of  intelligence  and  morals,  has  been  the 
great  civilizer — a  means  of  advance  toward   Plato 


THE  MODERN  GOSPEL    OF    WORK. 


59 


and  the  divine  image.  Hardship  may  arrest  devel- 
opment, but  seldom  causes  degeneration.  Our 
problem  is  not  to  free  from  bondage  to  work,  but 
to  relieve  of  burdens  that  are  too  heavy,  and  place 
a  larger  part  on  the  shoulders  of  the  strong  and 
selfish. 

Our  educational  philosophy  at  times  wanders  in 
dangerous  bypaths,  but  there  is  a  recent  return  to 
the  plain  highway.  Some  late  notable  utterances 
maintain  that  character  must  be  formed  by  struggle, 
that  a  good  impulse  must  prove  its  quality  by  a 
good  act,  that  education  is  self-effort,  and  that  pas- 
sive reception  of  knowledge  and  rules  of  conduct 
may  make  mental  and  moral  paupers.  Here  is  an 
apt  thrust  from  a  trenchant  pen  :  **  Soft  pedagogics 
have  taken  the  place  of  the  old  steep  and  rocky 
path  to  learning.  But  from  this  lukewarm  air  the 
bracing  oxygen  of  effort  is  left  out.  It  is  nonsense 
to  suppose  that  every  step  in  education  can  be  in- 
teresting. The  fighting  impulse  must  often  be 
appealed  to." 

I  like  to  discover  philosophy  in  the  literature  of 
the  day,  literature  which  does  not  rank  as  scientific, 
but  contains  half-conscious,  incidental  expression  of 
deep  perceptions  of  human  nature.  Kipling  at  his 
best  sounds  great  moral  depths,  and  teaches  the 
lesson  of  life's  discipline.  He  has  a  plain  message 
for  America  as  she  takes  her  new  place  in  the  con- 
gress of  the  world.  Civilized  nations  must  take  up 
the  burden  of  aiding  less  favored  peoples,  not  for 
glory  or  gain,  but  as  an  uncompromising  duty 
without  hope  of  appreciation  or  reward.  We  must 
expect  the  untaught  races  will  weigh  our  God,  our 
religion,  and  us  by  our  every  word  and  act  in  rela- 


l6o  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

tion  to  them.  We,  as  a  nation,  may  no  longer  wear 
the  lightly  proffered  laurel,  but  must  expect  the 
older,  civilized  nations  will  judge  us  by  our  wisdom, 
equity,  and  success  in  discharge  of  our  new  respon- 
sibilities. In  KipHng's  "  McAndrew's  Hymn" 
many  years  of  hardship,  sternly  borne  in  obedience 
to  duty,  atone  for  misspent  days  under  the  influence 
of  the  soft  stars  in  the  velvet  skies  of  the  Orient. 
In  **  The  'Eathen  "  the  author  refers  to  the  native 
inhabitants  of  India,  whose  most  familiar  household 
words  are  **  not  now,"  "  to-morrow,"  **  wait  a 
bit,"  and  whose  chief  traits  are  dirtiness,  laziness, 
and  **  doin'  things  rather-more-or-less."  He  de- 
scribes the  raw  English  recruit,  picked  out  of  the 
gutter,  recounts  the  stages  of  discipline  that  make 
him  a  good  soldier,  and  finally  a  reliable  non-com- 
missioned officer — a  man  that,  returned  to  his  coun- 
try, would  prove  a  good  and  useful  citizen. 

"  The  'eathen  in  'is  blindness  bows  down  to  wood  'an  stone  • 
'E  don't  obey  no  orders  unless  they  is  'is  own  ; 
'E  keeps  'is  side  arms  awful :  'e  leaves  'em  all  about, 
An'  then  comes  up  the  regiment  an'  pokes  the  'eathen  out. 

The  'eathen  in  'is  blindness  must  end  where  'e  began, 

But  the  backbone  of  the  Army  is  the  non-commissioned  man." 

**L* Envoi"  of  "The  Seven  Seas"  suggests  the 
creed  of  a  healthy  soul  :  to  accept  true  criticism  ; 
to  find  joy  in  work  ;  to  be  honest  in  the  search  for 
truth  ;  to  believe  that  all  our  labor  is  under  God,  the 
Source  of  all  knowledge  and  all  good. 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  is  great  as  a  novelist  ; 
he  is  greater  in  his  brief  writings  and  his  letters. 
He  presents  some  plain  truths  with  attractive  vigor. 
He  says  ;  "  To  have  suffered,  nay,  to  suffer,  sets  a 


THE  MODERN   GOSPEL   OF    WORK.  i6l 

keen  edge  on  what  remains  of  the  agreeable.  This 
is  a  great  truth,  and  has  to  be  learned  in  the  fire. 
.  .  .  In  almost  all  circumstances  the  human  soul 
can  play  a  fair  part.  .  .  .  To  me  morals,  the 
conscience,  the  affections,  and  the  passions  are,  I 
will  own  frankly  and  sweepingly,  so  infinitely  more 
important  than  the  other  parts  of  life,  that  I  con- 
ceive men  rather  triflers  who  become  immersed  in 
the  latter.  To  me  the  medicine  bottles  on  my 
chimney  and  the  blood  in  my  handkerchief  are  acci- 
dents ;  they  do  not  color  my  view  of  life.  .  .  . 
We  are  not  put  here  to  enjoy  ourselves  ;  it  was  not 
God's  purpose  ;  and  I  am  prepared  to  argue  it  is 
not  our  sincere  wish.  .  .  .  Men  do  not  want, 
and  I  do  not  think  they  would  accept,  happiness  ; 
what  they  live  for  is  rivalry,  effort,  success.  Gor- 
don was  happy  in  Khartoum,  in  his  worst  hours  of 
danger  and  fatigue." 

A  cartoon  of  Gladstone,  appearing  soon  after  he 
had  ostensibly  retired  from  public  life,  showed  him, 
with  eager  look  and  keen  eye,  writing  vigorous  es- 
says upon  current  political  questions.  It  recalled 
the  grandeur  of  a  life  filled  with  great  interests,  sane 
purposes,  and  perpetual  action.  Biography  is  the 
best  source  of  practical  ideals  ;  it  is  philosophy 
teaching  by  example  ;  the  personal  element  gives 
force  to  abstract  truths.  Luther's  Titanic  power 
and  courage  under  the  inspiration  of  a  faith  that 
could  remove  mountains  has  nerved  the  purpose  of 
millions  of  men  in  great  crises. 

Were  I  to  seek  an  epic  for  its  power  to  influence, 
I  would  go  to  real  history  and  choose  the  life  of 
William  the  Silent.     For  thirty  years  this  Prince  of 


1 62  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

Orange  stood  for  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  the 
Netherlands,  in  an  age  when  men  little  understood 
the  meaning  of  liberty.  He  sacrificed  wealth  and 
honors  for  his  country.  In  spite  of  reverses,  of  the 
cowardice  and  disloyalty  of  his  followers,  of  igno- 
rance of  the  very  motives  of  his  action,  he  perse- 
vered. Throughout  the  long  struggle  he  was  hope- 
ful, cheerful,  and  courageous.  When  the  celebrated 
ban  appeared,  barring  him  from  food,  water,  fire, 
shelter,  and  human  companionship,  setting  a  price 
on  his  head,  in  reply  he  painted  in  vivid  colors  a 
terrible  picture  of  the  oppressors  of  his  people  and 
held  it  up  to  the  view  of  the  civilized  world.  The 
motives  which  sustained  him  were  faith  in  God,  a 
strong  sense  of  duty,  and  a  deep  feeling  of  patriot- 
ism. His  biographer  says  :  "  As  long  as  he  lived 
he  was  the  guiding-star  of  a  whole  brave  nation, 
and  when  he  died  the  little  children  cried  in  the 
streets.'* 

Heine,  the  poet  and  philosopher,  was  dying  in 
an  obscure  attic  in  Paris.  He  was  wasted  to  a  skel- 
eton and  was  enduring  the  extremity  of  human 
suffering.  He  could  see  only  dimly,  as  through  a 
screen.  As  he  himself  said,  there  was  nothing 
left  of  him  except  his  voice.  Under  these  almost 
impossible  conditions,  he  was  still  laboriously  writ- 
ing, that  he  might  leave  a  competence  to  his  wife. 
A  friend  of  his  earlier  days  visited  him,  and  through 
a  long  conversation  his  words  sparkled  with  wit, 
humor,  poetry,  and  philosophy.  Surely  the  active 
spirit  is  more  than  the  body  !  There  was  a  feudal 
knight  who  went  about  saying  to  all  despondent 
wayfarers,  **  Courage,  friend  ;  the  devil  is  dead  !" 
and  he  always  spoke  with  such  cheerful  confidence 


THE  MODERN  GOSPEL   OF    WORK.  163 

that  his  listeners  accepted  the  announcement  as  good 
news,  and  gained  fresh  hope. 

In  this  Philosophy  of  Work  is  there  no  place  for 
romance  ?  Shall  there  be  no  thrilling  adventure, 
nothing  but  dull  duty  and  drudgery  ?  Shall  we 
have  only  dead  monotony — no  color,  light,  or 
shadow  ?  Shall  Carlyle's  "  splendors  high  as 
Heaven"  and  ''terrors  deep  as  Hell"  no  longer 
give  a  zest  to  life  ?  Stevenson's  "  Lantern  Bear- 
ers "  has  an  answer  for  this  natural  and  ever  recur- 
rent question.  In  a  little  village  in  England,  along 
the  sands  by  the  sea,  some  schoolboys  were  accus- 
tomed to  spend  their  autumn  holidays.  At  the  end 
of  the  season,  when  the  September  nights  were 
black,  the  boys  would  purchase  tin  bull's-eye  lan- 
terns. These  they  wore  buckled  to  their  waists  and 
concealed  under  topcoats.  In  the  cold  and  dark- 
ness of  the  night,  in  the  wind  and  under  the  rain, 
they  would  gather  in  a  hollow  of  the  lonely  sand 
drifts,  and,  disclosing  their  lanterns,  would  engage 
in  inconsequential  talk.  In  his  words  :  **  The 
essence  of  this  bliss  was  to  walk  by  yourself  in  the 
black  night  ;  the  slide  shut,  the  topcoat  buttoned ; 
not  a  ray  escaping,  whether  to  conduct  your  foot- 
steps or  to  make  your  glory  public :  a  mere  pillar  of 
darkness  in  the  dark  ;  and  all  the  while,  deep  down 
in  the  privacy  of  your  fool's  heart,  to  know  that 
you  had  a  bull's-eye  at  your  belt,  and  to  exult  and 
sing  over  the  knowledge.  .  .  .  Justice  is  not 
done  to  the  versatility  and  the  unplumbed  childish- 
ness of  man's  imagination.  His  life  from  without 
may  seem  but  a  rude  mound  of  mud  ;  there  will  be 
some  golden  chamber  at  the  heart  of  it,  in  which  he 


164  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

dwells  delighted  ;  and  for  as  dark  as  his  pathway- 
seems  to  the  observer,  he  will  have  some  kind  of  a 
bull's-eye  at  his  belt.  .  .  .  The  ground  of  a 
man's  joy  is  often  hard  to  hit.  The  observer  (poor 
soul,  with  his  documents !)  is  all  abroad.  For  to 
look  at  the  man  is  but  to  court  deception.  We 
shall  see  the  trunk  from  which  he  draws  his  nourish- 
ment ;  but  he  himself  is  above  and  abroad  in  the 
green  dome  of  foliage,  hummed  through  by  winds 
and  nested  in  by  nightingales.  And  the  true  realism 
were  that  of  the  poets,  to  climb  up  after  him  like 
a  squirrel,  and  catch  some  glimpse  of  the  heaven 
for  which  he  lives.  And  the  true  realism,  always 
and  everywhere,  is  that  of  the  poets:  to  find  out 
where  joy  resides  and  give  it  a  voice  far  beyond 
singing.  For  to  miss  the  joy  is  to  miss  all.  In  the 
joy  of  the  actors  lies  the  sense  of  any  action,  that 
is  the  explanation,  that  the  excuse.  To  one  who 
has  not  the  secret  of  the  lanterns,  the  scene  upon 
the  links  is  meaningless.  And  hence  the  haunting 
and  truly  spectral  unreality  of  realistic  books." 
This  quotation  needs  no  excuse.  The  mould  of 
human  nature  from  which  this  copy  was  taken  is 
forever  broken,  and  can  never  be  reproduced. 

To  be  a  lantern-bearer  on  the  lonely  heath,  to 
rejoice  in  work  and  struggle — this  is  the  romance, 
real,  attainable,  and  apt  for  the  world  as  it  is  and 
for  the  work  we  must  do.  If  irrational  pastime, 
attended  with  endurance,  may  be  a  joy,  surely 
rational  effort  toward  some  desired  result  may  have 
its  poetry.  Sacrifice  and  heroism  are  found  in 
humble  homes  ;  commonplace  labor  has  its  dangers 
and  its  victories  ;  and  many  a  man  at  his  work,  in 
knowledge  of  the  light  concealed,   the  interest  he 


i 


THE   MODERN  GOSPEL   OF    WORK.  165 

makes   of   his  vocation,    his   romance,    exults   and 
sings. 

The  world  is  as  we  regard  it.  Many  look  at  the 
world  as  Doctor  Holmes'  squint-brained  member 
of  the  tea-table  views  the  plant  kingdom.  He 
makes  the  underground,  downward-probing  life  of 
the  tree  the  real  life.  The  spreading  roots  are  a 
great  octopus,  searching  beneath  instinctively  for 
food,  while  the  branches  and  leaves  are  mere  termi- 
nal appendages  swaying  in  the  air.  It  is  a  horrible 
conception,  and  we  are  pained  at  standing  on  our 
heads.  The  tree  roots  itself  to  the  earth  and  draws 
its  nourishment  therefrom  that  it  may  spring  heav- 
enward, and  bear  rich  fruit  and  be  a  thing  of  beauty, 
a  lesson  and  a  promise.  Man  is  rooted  to  the  earth, 
but  his  real  life  springs  into  the  free  air  and  bathes 
in  the  glad  sunlight. 

The  purpose  of  our  labor  determines  its  qualities  h 
of  truth  and  healthfulness.  Satisfaction  must  be*^ 
sought  by  employing  our  faculties  in  the  useful  arts 
and  in  the  search  for  truth.  Perfection  of  self  is 
the  ultimate  good  for  each  individual,  but  this  is 
attained,  not  in  isolation,  but  in  social  life  with  its 
mutual  obligations.  The  lesson  of  civil  and  relig- 
ious liberty,  taught  by  the  great  reformers,  has  been 
only  partly  learned.  Individualism,  rightly  under- 
stood, is  the  true  political  doctrine,  but  the  selfish- 
ness of  individual  freedom  is  the  first  quality  to  de-  • 
velop.  Concerning  great  public  questions  often  the 
attitude  is  as  expressed  in  Balzac's  words  :  "  What 
is  that  to  me  ?  Each  for  himself  !  Let  each  man 
mind  his  own  business  !"  Democracy  is  the  way 
of  social  and  political  progress,  but  we  have  not  yet 


1 66  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

reached  the  height  of  clear  vision.  We  are  strug- 
gling up  the  difficult  and  dangerous  path,  looking 
hopefully  upward,  thinking  we  see  the  summit,  only 
to  find  at  each  stage  that  the  ultimate  heights  are 
still  beyond.  When  kings  are  dethroned,  the  hope 
of  democracy  is  to  enthrone  public  conscience. 
Here  is  a  picture  of  a  condition  occasionally  possible 
in  any  state  of  America  to-day.  We  will  say  there 
is  some  great  public  interest,  not  a  party  problem, 
involving  the  financial  prosperity  and  the  essential 
welfare  of  the  state,  and  affecting  its  credit,  honor, 
and  reputation  abroad.  And — with  some  noble 
exceptions — perhaps  not  a  minister  in  his  pulpit, 
not  an  orator  on  his  platform,  not  a  newspaper  with 
its  great  opportunity  for  enlightening  the  people 
and  exerting  influence,  not  an  educator,  not  a  col- 
lege graduate,  not  a  high-school  graduate,  not  a 
business  man,  not  a  politician  arises  and  says  :  Here 
is  a  common  good  imperilled,  and  I  for  one  will  give 
of  my  time,  my  energy,  and,  if  need  be,  according 
to  my  ability,  of  my  money  in  its  support.  So 
long  as  such  a  state  of  apathy  concerning  public 
questions  may  exist,  there  is  something  still  to  be 
desired  for  the  ideals  of  democracy  and  for  our 
methods  of  education. 

The  Platonic  philosophy  has  largely  inspired  edu- 
cational work,  and  must  still  furnish  its  best  ideals. 
But  emphasizing  the  worth  of  the  individual  to  him- 
self has  created  a  false  conception  of  social  obli- 
gation. Culture  for  culture's  sake  has  been  the 
maxim,  but  I  have  come  to  believe  that  a  culture 
which  does  not  in  some  way  reach  out  to  benefit 
others  is  not  of  much  value  to  the  individual  him- 
self.    Some  one   has   aptly   illustrated   this   view  : 


THE  MODERN  GOSPEL   OF    WORK.  167 

probably  the  drone  in  the  bee-hive,  when  he  is  about 
to  be  destroyed,  would  say,  "  I  would  like  to  live 
for  life's  sake,  and  would  like  to  buzz  a  while  longer 
for  buzz's  sake." 

I  would  see  young  men  and  women  go  out  into 
the  world  with  a  true  democratic  spirit,  with  a  ready 
sympathy  for  all  classes  of  people,  and  with  a  help- 
ful attitude  toward  all  problems  of  state  and  society. 
The  work  of  any  public  institution  of  higher  learning 
is  a  failure  in  so  far  as  its  graduates  fail  to  honor 
the  state's  claim  on  them  as  citizens.  The  great 
principle  of  evolution  is  the  struggle  for  life  ;  there  / 
is  another  equally  important  principle,  namely,  the  » 
struggle  for  the  life  of  others.  Altruism,  dimly  dis- 
closed away  down  on  the  scale  of  being,  finally 
shines  forth  in  the  family  and  home  in  all  of  those 
social  sentiments  that  make  human  character  beau- 
tiful and  noble.  Society  is  the  mirror  in  which  each 
one  sees  himself  reflected,  by  which  each  attains 
self-consciousness,  and  becomes  a  human  being. 
From  cooperation  spring  industries,  commerce, 
science,  literature,  art — all  that  makes  life  worth 
living.  If  the  individual  owes  everything  to  soci- 
ety, he  should  be  willing  in  some  small  ways  to 
repay  part  of  the  debt. 

The  great  Bismarck,  that  man  of  iron  and  blood, 
not  given  to  sentimentality,  in  fireside  conversation 
repeatedly  proclaimed  that  during  his  long  and  ar- 
duous struggle  for  the  unification  of  Germany  he 
was  sustained  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  faith  in  God. 
"  If  I  did  not  believe  in  a  Divine  Providence  which 
has  ordained  this  German  nation  to  something  good 
and  great,  I  would  at  once  give  up  my  trade  as  a 


l68  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

statesman.  If  I  had  not  the  wonderful  basis  of 
rehgion,  I  should  have  turned  my  back  to  the  whole 
court."  Some  one  has  said  that  the  essence  of 
pessimism  is  disbelief  in  God  and  man.  Fear  is  a 
kind  of  atheism.  Heine  once  said  :  "  God  was 
always  the  beginning  and  end  of  my  thought.  When 
I  hear  His  existence  questioned  I  feel  a  ghastly  for- 
lornness  in  a  mad  world."  The  inspiration  of  labor 
is  faith  in  God,  faith  in  man,  faith  in  the  moral 
order  of  the  world,  faith  in  progress.  The  religious 
man  should  have  a  sane  view  of  life,  should  have 
convictions,  and  the  courage  of  his  convictions. 
He  should  believe  that  his  work  all  counts  toward 
some  great  purpose. 

The  impulse  to  reverence  and  prayer  is  an  essen- 
tial fact,  as  real  as  the  inborn  tendency  to  physical 
and  mental  action.  Its  development  is  necessary  to 
the  complete  man.  The  religious  nature  obeys  the 
great  law  of  power  through  effort,  and  increases 
strength  by  use.  He  who  by  scientific  analysis 
comes  to  doubt  the  value  of  his  ethical  feeling  has 
not  learned  the  essential  truth  of  philosophy, 
namely,  that  a  thing's  origin  must  not  be  mistaken 
for  its  character. 

Some  tendencies  of  the  best  scientific  thought 
of  to-day,  seen  here  and  there,  confirm  this  view  of 
man's  nature.  Here  are  some  fragments,  expressed, 
not  literally,  but  in  substance  :  It  is  the  business  of 
science  to  analyze  the  entire  content  of  human 
consciousness  into  atomic  sensations,  but  there  its 
work  ends.  The  man  of  history,  of  freedom  and 
responsibility,  whose  deeds  we  approve  or  disap- 
prove, is  the  real  man,  a  being  of  transcendent 
worth,    aspiring    toward    perfect     ideals;   and  the 


THE  MODERN  GOSPEL   OF    WORK. 


169 


teacher  must  carry  this  conception  of  the  child's 
nature  into  the  work  of  education.  It  is  a  scientific 
fact  that  prayer  is  for  the  health  of  the  soul.  It  is 
useless  to  theorize  on  the  subject — men  pray  because 
it  is  their  nature  ;  they  can  not  help  it.  Even  if 
prayer  does  not  change  the  will  of  God,  at  least  it 
does  change  the  will  of  man,  which  may  be  the 
object  of  prayer.  The  Christian  experience  shows 
that  prayer  is  a  communion  of  man's  spirit  with 
God,  the  Spirit.  John  Fiske  affirms  the  reality  of 
religion.  He  argues  that  the  progress  of  life  has 
been  achieved  through  adjustment  to  external  real- 
ities ;  that  the  religious  idea  has  played  a  dominant 
part  in  history  ;  that  all  the  analogies  of  evolution 
show  that  man's  religious  nature  cannot  be  an  ad- 
justment to  an  external  non-reality.  He  says  : 
"  Of  all  the  implications  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
with  regard  to  Man,  I  believe  the  very  deepest  and 
strongest  to  be  that  which  asserts  the  Everlasting 
Reality  of  Religion." 

In  this  message  to  students  we  have  emphasized 
a  particular  ideal,  namely,  normal  activity,  because 
one's  own  effort  and  experience  count  most  for 
growth  and  power. 

"  It  was  better  youth 
Should  strive,  through  acts  uncouth, 
Toward  making,  than  repose  on  aught  found  made." 

Students  are  at  an  age  when  to  them  the  roses 
nod  and  the  stars  seem  to  wink.  Their  mental 
landscape  is  filled  with  budding  flowers,  singing 
birds,  and  rosy  dawns.  Every  one  has  a  right  to 
consider  his  own  perfection  and  enjoyment,  his  own 


170 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 


emotions.  One  is  better  for  his  healthful  recreations, 
his  aspirations  and  ideals,  his  perceptions  of  beauty 
and  his  divine  communings — the  sweetness  and  light 
of  the  soul.  We  can  only  ask  that  the  main  purpose 
and  trend  of  life  may  be  laborious  and  useful,  even 
strenuous  and  successful. 

Lowell  wrote  of  the  pioneers  who  settled  New 
England  that  they  were  men 

"  Who  pitched  a  state  as  other  men  pitch  tents, 
And  led  the  march  of  time  to  great  events." 

The  pioneers  of  this  Commonwealth  were  men  who 
here  pitched  a  state  as  other  men  pitch  tents,  and 
are  leading  the  march  of  time  to  great  events.  The 
age,  America,  offer  great  opportunities  to  educated 
young  men  and  women.  Use  them  with  courage. 
King  Henry  IV.  of  France  once  gained  a  great 
victory  at  Arques.  After  the  battle,  as  he  was 
leading  his  troops  toward  Paris,  he  met  one  of  his 
generals  coming  up  late  with  a  detachment  of  the 
army,  and  thus  greeted  him,  "  Go  hang  yourself, 
brave  Crillon  !  We  fought  at  Arques  and  you  were 
not  there,"  as  though  the  greatest  privilege  in  life 
were  an  opportunity  to  contend  and  win  for  one's 
self  a  victory. 

A  few  years  ago  I  went  to  Ayr,  the  birthplace  of 
Burns.  I  visited  the  poet's  cottage,  walked  by  the 
Alloway  Kirk  where  Tam  o'  Shanter  beheld  the 
witch  dance,  crossed  the  Auld  Brig  and  wandered 
by  the  banks  and  braes  o'  bonny  Doon — and  it  is  a 
beautiful  stream.  I  found  myself  repeating  lines 
from  **  Tam  o'  Shanter,"  "  Bonny  Doon,"  "  Scots 
Wha  Hae  wi'  Wallace  Bled,"  and  from  some  of 
the  sweeter  and  nobler  songs  of   Burns.      And  I 


THE  MODERN  GOSPEL   OF    WORK, 


171 


thought  of  the  mission  of  the  poet.  The  scenery 
in  and  about  Ayr  is  beautiful,  but  there  is  many 
another  region  equally  attractive.  The  people  with 
whom  Burns  dwelt,  his  neighbors  and  friends,  were 
commonplace  men  and  women,  knowing  the  hard- 
ships, the  drudgery,  the  pettiness  of  life.  And  yet 
he  sp  sang  of  these  scenes  and  these  people,  so 
touched  every  chord  of  the  human  heart,  that  annu- 
ally thirty  thousand  travellers  visit  Ayr  to  pay  their 
homage  at  the  poet's  shrine.  The  poetic  view  of 
life  is  the  right  one.  The  poet  sees  the  reality  in 
the  commonplace.  Our  surroundings  are  filled  with 
wonderful  and  varied  beauty  when  we  open  our 
eyes  to  the  truth.  Our  friends  and  companions  are 
splendid  men  and  women  when  we  see  them  at  their 
worth.  For  happiness  as  well  as  success  add  poetry 
to  heroism. 

"  The  Inscrutable  who  set  this  orb  awhirl 

Gave  power  to  strength  that  effort  might  attain  ; 
Gave  power  to  wit  that  knowledge  might  direct ; 
And  so  with  penalties,  incentives,  gains. 
Limits,  and  compensations  intricate, 
He  dowered  this  earth,  that  man  should  never  rest 
Save  as  his  Maker's  will  be  carried  out. 


There  is  no  easy,  unearned  joy  on  earth 
Save  what  God  gives — the  lustiness  of  youth. 
And  love's  dear  pangs.     All  other  joys  we  gain 
By  striving,  and  so  qualified  we  are 
That  effort's  zest  our  need  as  much  consoles 
As  effort's  gain.     Both  issues  are  our  due. 

Better  when  work  is  past 
Back  into  dust  dissolve  and  help  a  seed 
Climb  upward,  than  with  strength  still  full 
Deny  to  God  His  claim  and  thwart  His  wish." 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   FAITH. 

Mark  Twain  quotes  a  schoolboy  as  saying: 
**  Faith  is  believing  what  you  know  ain't  so."  This 
definition  is  turned  from  humor  into  seriousness  by 
some  modern  thinkers  when  they  charge  immorality 
against  all  whose  beliefs  are  not  scientifically  estab- 
lished on  sufficient  evidence.  They  look  upon 
what  they  consider  unwarranted  beliefs  as  a  species 
of  lying  to  one's  self,  demoralizing  to  intellect  and 
character.  If  no  element  of  faith  may  anywhere 
be  tolerated,  these  same  thinkers  should  reexamine 
their  own  foundations.  The  only  thorough  agnostic 
in  history  or  literature,  agnostic  even  toward  his 
own  agnosticism,  is  Charles  Kingsley's  Raphael 
Aben-Ezra.  Let  us  listen  to  him.  **  Here  am  I,  at 
last  !  fairly  and  safely  landed  at  the  very  bottom  of 
the  bottomless.  .  .  .  No  man,  angel  or  demon 
can  this  day  cast  it  in  my  teeth  that  I  am  weak 
enough  to  believe  or  disbelieve  any  phenomenon  or 
theory  in  or  concerning  heaven  or  earth  ;  or  even 
that  any  such  heaven,  earth,  phenomena  or  theo- 
ries exist — or  otherwise." 

In  a  last  analysis  our  very  foundation  principles 
rest  on  a  ground  of  faith,  and  a  clear  knowledge  of 
this  fact  may  make  us  more  humble  in  the  presence 
of  other  claims  on  our  belief.  Whenever  the  ad- 
venturous philosophic  mind  gazes  over  the  dizzy 
edge  at  the  *'  bottomless,"  it  draws  back  and  gains 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAITH.,  17^ 

a  firm  footing  on  the  reality  of  conscious  ideas.  To 
abandon  this  is  annihilation. 

Years  ago  an  old  friend  of  mine,  very  worthy, 
but  somewhat  self-opinioned  and  truculent,  in  a 
discussion  on  religious  thought  exclaimed :  "  What  ! 
believe  in  anything  I  can't  see,  touch,  hear,  smell, 
taste  ?  No,  sir  !  "  He  represented  the  uneducated 
instinctive  belief  in  the  reality  of  the  outer  world  as 
revealed  through  the  senses  ;  and  he  would  have 
violently  affirmed  the  reliability  of  the  senses  and 
the  existence  of  material  things.  But  philosophy 
shows  these  also  to  be  of  faith. 

Had  he  been  asked  whether  he  had  a  knowledge 
of  space  and  time  and  of  certain  indisputable  facts 
concerning  them,  and  whether  he  could  see  or  hear 
these  entities  and  intuitive  truths,  he  would  have 
paused  to  think.  The  axioms  of  mathematics 
would  have  been  a  veritable  Socratic  poser  to  him, 
and  he  would  have  withdrawn  from  his  position — 
would  have  acknowledged  some  truths  as  more  cer- 
tain, by  the  nature  and  need  of  the  mind,  than  the 
existence  of  matter. 

The  modern  scientist  for  practical  purposes  pos- 
tulates the  existence  of  conscious  ideas,  of  the  outer 
material  world,  of  space  and  time.  He  accepts  axi- 
omatic truths.  He  goes  farther;  he  postulates  the 
uniformity  of  nature,  and  the  validity  of  his  reason- 
ing processes.  He  discovers  natural  laws,  and  pro- 
pounds theories  concerning  them.  He  investigates 
the  physical  correlates  of  mental  processes.  He 
has  his  favorite  hypotheses  concerning  phenomena 
that  defy  his  powers  of  analysis.  He  shows  the 
process  of  the  world  as  a  whole  to  be  evolution. 

So  far  we  have  no  controversy  and  should  have 


174  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

none,  did  not  some  eminent  investigators  in  the  field 
of  natural  science  claim  to  have  covered  the  entire 
realm  of  legitimate  inquiry,  and  deny  the  right  to 
raise  further  questions  or  entertain  beliefs,  however 
strongly  they  may  be  prompted  by  our  very  consti- 
tution, concerning  the  origin  and  end  of  things,  the 
meaning  of  the  world,  and  man's  place  in  it.  To 
the  well-rounded  nature,  faith  is  not  necessarily  lim- 
ited to  the  physical  world,  and  the  credulity  implied 
in  unwarranted  denial  is  at  least  as  unscientific  as 
positive  faith. 

Human  nature  rebels  against  conclusions  wholly 
discordant  with  its  best  instincts,  and,  in  the  light 
of  the  most  recent  data  and  speculation,  begins 
anew  a  discussion  as  old  as  philosophy.  The  subject 
is  all  the  more  important,  because  the  uneducated 
mind,  misled  by  superficial  catch  phrases  of  mate- 
rialism, fails  to  know  the  reverent  spirit  of  true 
science. 

Here  is  an  illustration  relating  to  the  general 
theme.  A  prominent  biologist  puts  this  statement 
before  the  reading  public  :  "  There  is  no  ego  except 
that  which  arises  from  the  coordination  of  the 
nerve  cells.**  I  might  take  the  contrary  of  the  pro- 
position and  reply :  *  *  There  is  an  ego  not  adequately 
described  by  your  *  colonial  consciousness  *  theory." 
Regarding  each  position  as  dogmatic,  perhaps  mine 
is  as  good  as  the  biologist's.  As  to  evidence,  he 
founds  his  belief  on  the  general  fact  of  evolution 
and  specifically  upon  the  functions,  partly  known, 
partly  conjectured,  of  nerve  cells  in  the  brain.  He 
has  no  knowledge  that  a  unit-being  called  the  ego 
does  not  exist.  His  is  the  faith  of  denial  of  some- 
thing which    from  his    standpoint  he  can   neither 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAITH.  175 

prove  nor  disprove.  I  also  accept  the  facts  of  evo- 
lution and  of  the  mechanism  of  the  brain.  I  base  my 
belief  in  the  ego  on  certain  views  of  other  biologists, 
and  on  data  of  consciousness,  morality,  and  religion, 
and  the  insight  of  all  subjective  philosophy.  My 
faith  is  one  of  assent  to  something  not  admitting 
demonstrative  proof.  Have  I  sufficient  reason  for 
my  faith  in  passing  beyond  the  inductions  of  mate- 
rial science  ? 

We  present  some  latest  views  of  eminent  biolo- 
gists. While  evolution  must  be  accepted  as  a  fact, 
there  is  great  uncertainty  as  to  the  factors  that  pro- 
duce changes  in  the  organic  world.  To-day  there 
is  small  evidence  that  variations  are  produced  by 
direct  influence  of  environment.  In  the  germ  is 
the  *  *  whole  machinery  and  the  mystery  of  heredity. 
Since  the  microscope  fails  to  reveal  the  causes,  either 
of  normal  development  or  of  variations,  some  are 
forced  to  accept,  as  the  simplest  and  most  rational 
hypothesis,  the  existence  of  a  psychic  principle  in 
the  germ.  The  facts  appear  to  support  the  doctrine 
of  purpose  in  evolution.  So  earnest  and  able  a 
thinker  as  Professor  Le  Conte  frankly  affirms :  *  *  With 
the  appearance  of  Man  another  factor  was  intro- 
duced, namely,  conscious  cooperation  in  his  own  evo- 
lution,  striving  to  attain  an  ideal.  * ' 

Professor  Muensterberg  is  of  high  authority  in  ex- 
perimental psychology  and  besides  has  a  keen  philo- 
sophic mind.  His  paper  entitled  **  Psychology 
and  the  Real  Life"  is  instructive  and  significant. 
He  shows  that  it  is  the  business  of  psychology  to 
analyze  the  ideas  and  emotions,  the  whole  content 
of  consciousness,  into  sensations,  to  investigate  the 


176  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

whole  psychological  mechanism,  but  that  the  pri- 
mary reality  is  not  a  possible  object  of  psychology 
and  natural  science.  By  his  view  it  takes  an  act  of 
free  will  to  declare  the  will  unfree  ;  there  can  be  no 
science,  thought,  or  doubt  that  is  not  the  child  of 
duties  ;  even  skeptical  denial  demands  to  be  re- 
garded as  absolute  truth  ;  there  is  a  truth,  a  beauty, 
,  a  morality  independent  of  psychological  conditions ; 
psychology  is  the  last  word  of  a  materialistic  cen- 
tury, it  may  become  the  introductory  word  of  an 
idealistic  century.  His  views  are  maintained  with 
force  and  power  of  conviction. 

But  these  references  are  only  incidental  to  the 
purpose  of  this  discussion.  They  may  serve  to  show 
(i)  that  science  has  no  real  proof  against  the  dictum, 
"  Evolution  is  God's  way  of  doing  things  ;  "  (2)  that 
on  the  contrary  it  may  support  the  spiritual  view 
of  the  world  ;  (3)  that  there  are  grounds  of  faith 
with  which  science  properly  has  no  business. 

Evolution  is  according  to  nature's  laws.  Man  is 
a  product  of  evolution.  Man  possesses  poetry  and 
sentiment,  conceives  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  has 
speculative  reason.  None  of  these  can  properly  be 
explained  by  merely  materialistic  evolution  ;  they 
are  not  necessary  to  preservation  of  life.  We  have 
tried  to  wholly  account  for  the  ideals,  emotions,  and 
aspirations  of  human  nature  by  analyzing  them  into 
primitive  sensations  and  instincts.  This  is  the  fatal 
error  of  materialistic  philosophy.  The  process  of 
evolution  is  not  analysis  ;  it  is  synthesis,  develop- 
ment, the  appearance  of  new  factors — a  gradual  rev- 
elation. It  is  our  business  to  analyze,  but,  also,  to  try 
to  understand  the  higher  complex,   the  perfected 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAITH.  177 

product.  The  first  stand  of  spiritual  philosophy  is 
faith  in  the  validity  of  our  own  evolved  being,  and 
to  this  we  have  as  much  right  as  to  faith  in  the  reli- 
ability of  our  five  senses. 

The  geologist  might  say  :  To  me  the  grandeur  of 
the  mountain  means  nothing  ;  I  know  how  it  was 
made.  The  cooling  and  contraction  of  the  earth, 
the  crushing  and  uplifting  of  strata,  the  action  of 
air,  wind,  and  water,  the  sculpturing  of  time,  the 
planting  of  vegetation  by  a  chance  breeze — and  you 
have  your  mountain,  a  thing  of  science.  Yet  Cole- 
ridge, standing  in  the  vale  of  Chamounix  and  gaz- 
ing on  Mont  Blanc, 

"  Till  the  dilating  Soul,  enrapt,  transfused, 
Into  the  mighty  Vision  passing — there. 
As  in  her  natural  form,  swelled  vast  to  Heaven," 

found  it  an  emblem  of  sublimity,  a  voice  from  the 
throne  of  God.  We  shall  find  it  hard  to  believe 
that  the  poetry  of  science  can  be  explained  on  a 
merely  physical  basis.  One  may  say  :  The  religious 
sentiment  means  nothing  to  me  ;  I  know  its  origin  ; 
it  is  the  result  of  bad  dreams.  A  primitive  ances- 
tor, after  a  successful  hunt,  ate  too  much  raw  meat 
and  dreamed  of  his  grandfather.  Thus  arose  the 
belief  in  disembodied  spirits  and  a  whole  train  of 
false  conceptions.  Yet  we  shall  hardly  grant  that 
the  religious  feeling  of  the  martyrs,  which  enabled 
the  exalted  spirit  to  lose  the  sense  of  unutterable 
physical  torture,  is  adequately  explained  by  the 
dream  hypothesis. 

A   Beethoven  string    orchestra,    to   the   musical 
mind,  discourses  most  excellent  music.     It  is  a  con- 
nected series  of  sublimated  and  elusive  metaphors, 
12 


178  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

arousing  the  harmonies  of  the  soul,  touching  its 
chords  of  sweetness,  purity,  beauty,  and  nobility. 
Yet  there  are  minds  that  find  in  it  nothing — pardon 
the  quotation — but  the  friction  of  horsehair  on 
catgut.  There  are  minds  to  which  these  grand 
mountains,  this  deep  sky,  these  groves  of  pine  are 
nothing  but  rock  and  vapor  and  wood.  The  ele- 
ments make  no  sweet  tones  for  them  ;  they  can  not 
hear  the  music  of  the  spheres.  To  them  honor, 
courage,  morality,  beauty,  religion,  are  but  refined 
forms  of  crude  animal  instincts,  by  aid  of  which  the 
race  has  survived  in  its  struggle  for  existence. 
There  are  no  soul  harmonies — nothing  but  the  beat- 
ing of  the  primitive  tom-tom.  They  believe  nothing 
which  can  not  be  verified  by  the  methods  of  physical 
science.     They  have  no  faith. 

How  many  a  man  of  science,  on  some  slight  hint 
pointing  in  a  given  direction,  with  faith  and  courage 
has  pursued  his  investigations,  adopting  hypothesis 
after  hypothesis,  rejecting,  adjusting,  the  world 
meanwhile  laughing  at  his  folly  and  credulity,  until 
he  has  discovered  and  proclaimed  a  great  truth. 
When  in  the  world  of  mind  we  find  phenomena 
calling  for  explanation,  needs  that  can  be  met  in 
only  a  certain  way,  higher  impulses  reaching  out 
toward  objects  whose  existence  they  prove  and 
whose  nature  they  define,  shall  we  show  less  faith 
and  courage  because  of  some  dogmatic  view  that 
there  is  no  reality  beyond  the  world  of  material 
existence  ?  In  this  universe  of  mystery,  anything 
may  be  supposed  possible  for  which  there  is  evi- 
dence, and  any  theory  is  rational  that  will  best  ex- 
plain the  facts.  If  we  have  not  the  sense  to  under- 
stand the  deepest  conceptions  of  philosophy,  let  us 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAITH. 


179 


at  least  have  the  sense  to  stick  to  that  common 
sense  with  which  God  has  endowed  us  in  order  that 
we  may  know  by  faith  the  supreme  truths  concern- 
ing man. 

Somewhere  and  somehow  in  the  nature  of  things 
is  an  ideal  that  made  us  as  we  are — an  ideal  that  is 
adequate  to  our  nature,  need,  and  conception.  God 
at  the  beginning  and  God  at  the  end  of  the  natural 
world,  and  the  world  of  consciousness  seems  a  pos- 
tulate that  is  necessary  and  warranted.  Professor 
James  writes  of  an  old  lady  who  believed  that  the 
world  rests  on  a  great  rock,  and  that  the  first  rock 
rests  on  a  rock  ;  being  urged  further,  she  exclaimed 
that  it  was  rocky  all  up  and  down.  Unless  we  pos- 
tulate a  spiritual  foundation  of  things  that  is  self- 
active  and  rational,  we  are  no  better  off  than  the  old 
lady.  This  appears  to  be  a  rational  world,  for  it  is 
a  world  that  makes  science  possible  ;  we  believe  it 
has  a  rational  Creator. 

We  commonly  account  for  our  ideals  as  con- 
structed in  a  simple,  mechanical  way  ;  but  the  ex- 
planation will  fail  to  satisfy  the  mind  of  artist  or 
saint  in  his  exalted  moments  when  he  has  visions  of 
perfection.  He  must  conceive  of  a  Being  who  pos- 
sesses the  attributes  of  perfect  beauty  and  goodness. 
Belief  in  God  consecrates  man's  endeavor  to  attain 
the  highest  standards.  Without  God  the  world  has 
not  a  home-seeming  for  man.  As  in  the  dream  in 
Vergil,  always  he  seems  to  be  left  alone,  always  to 
be  going  on  a  long  journey  in  a  desert  land,  unat- 
tended. 

Philosophy  has  spent  much  time  and  energy  to 
discover  the  origin  of  evil  ;  a  saner  quest  would  be 
the  origin  of  good  in  the  world.     We  know  that  in 


l8o  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

accounting  for  evil  there  is  always  an  unexplained 
remainder — the  righteous  suffering,  and  the  weak 
crushed  under  burdens  too  heavy.  It  may  be  that 
Spencer's  age  of  perfection,  seen  away  down  the 
vista  of  evolution,  will,  when  realized,  not  be  invit- 
ing. Some  one  suggests  that  then  men  will  be  per- 
fect, but  perfectly  idiotic.  It  is  the  great  moral 
paradox  that  perfection  must  be  obtained  through 
struggle  with  imperfection.  Laurels  worn  but  not 
won  are  but  a  fool's  cap.  Freedom  is  possible  only 
in  a  world  of  good  and  evil,  a  world  of  choice,  and 
with  freedom  the  humblest  creature  is  infinitely 
above  the  most  perfect  mechanism  made  and  con- 
trolled by  a  blind  necessity.  Cease  to  prate  of  a  life 
of  perennial  ease  under  June  skies  ;  the  divinity 
within  us  rises  in  majesty  and  will  not  have  it  so. 
After  all,  those  who  are  overcome  in  the  struggle 
may  have  their  reward  ;  at  Thermopylae  the  Per- 
sians won  the  laurels,  the  Spartans  the  glory. 

Does  evolution  transform  the  nature  of  duty  into 
a  mere  calculation  of  the  sum  of  happiness  ?  On 
the  contrary,  it  adds  to  duty  a  practical  way  of  dis- 
covering duties.  Evolution  affirms  the  truth  that 
knowledge  of  right  and  wrong  is  a  growth,  and  that 
new  conditions  bring  new  problems.  The  laws  of 
nature  and  the  organization  of  society  promptly 
teach  us  applied  ethics.  True,  we  no  longer  search 
for  eternally  fixed  codes  ;  but  whatever  conduces 
to  happiness  and  genuine  welfare,  whatever  conduces 
to  the  beauty,  dignity,  and  goodness  of  self  and 
others  is,  as  ever,  a  stern  duty.  It  is  not  in  the 
nature  of  man  to  bridge  over  the  chasm  between 
right,  known  as  right,  and  wrong,  known  as  wrong. 
The  moral  imperative,  Turn  toward  the  light,  seek 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAITH.  igl 

to  see  your  duty  and  perform  it,  is  **  a  presence 
which  is  not  to  be  put  by,  which  neither  listlessness 
nor  mad  endeavor  can  utterly  abolish  or  destroy." 

"  Faith  means  belief  in  something  concerning 
which  doubt  is  still  theoretically  possible,"  says  a 
modern  scientific  writer.  He  continues  :  "  Faith  is 
the  readiness  to  act  in  a  cause  the  prosperous  issue 
of  which  is  not  certified  to  us  in  advance.  It  is  in 
fact  the  same  moral  quality  which  we  call  courage  in 
practical  affairs."  We  admire  confidence  and  cour- 
age in  the  world  of  affairs,  even  when  disaster  may 
possibly  follow.  Have  we  not  in  our  hearts  the 
"  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen,"  which  constitute  the  faith  of  St. 
Paul  ?  And  shall  we  not  use  the  courage  of  faith 
to  seek  a  supreme  good,  when,  though  we  do  not  find 
it,  there  is  a  reward  even  in  the  seeking  ?  If  I  were 
to  define  faith  I  would  call  it  the  X-ray  of  the  soul. 

There  can  be  no  absolute  break  between  old 
thought  and  new.  The  history  of  thought  is  a  his- 
tory of  evolution.  Modern  science  has  not  de- 
stroyed the  old  grounds  of  faith  ;  it  enables  us  to 
correct  the  beliefs  built  thereon.  The  next  step  of 
science  will  be  a  recognition  and  examination  of 
subjective  problems  as  such.  When  discarding  old 
things,  separate  the  treasure  from  the  rubbish.  If 
you  have  ceased  to  pray  selfishly  for  rain,  you  need 
not  deny  the  efficacy  of  prayer  for  change  of  heart, 
forgiveness  of  sins,  and  communion  of  spirit.  If  you 
cannot  accept  certain  views  of  the  Trinity,  you 
need  not  reject  the  sublime  Christian  philosophy,  or 
refuse  to  pay  homage  to  the  perfection  of  Christ. 
If  you  have  discarded  some  doctrine  of  inspiration 
of  the  Bible,  you  need  not  deny  or  neglect  the  value 


1 82  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

of  the  divine  ethical  teachings  of  the  Hebrews,  or 
their  grand  sacred  poetry — 

*'  Those  Hebrew  songs  that  triumph,  trust  or  grieve, — 
Verses  that  smite  the  soul  as  with  a  sword, 
And  open  all  the  abysses  with  a  word." 

There  is  a  faith  which  is  a  personal  and  conscious 
relation  of  man  to  God.  It  is  said  that  in  its  true 
nature  faith  can  be  justified  by  nothing  but  itself. 
Here  we  enter  the  temple  of  the  human  heart  and 
approach  the  holy  of  holies.  This  we  do  with  rev- 
erent mien,  even  with  fear  and  trembling.  We 
quote  from  Prof.  T.  H.  Green  :  **  That  God  is, 
Reason  entitles  us  to  say  with  the  same  certainty  as 
that  the  world  is  or  that  we  ourselves  are.  What 
He  is,  it  does  not,  indeed,  enable  us  to  say  in  the 
same  way  in  which  we  make  propositions  about 
matters  of  fact,  but  it  moves  us  to  seek  to  become 
as  He  is,  to  become  like  Him,  to  become  con- 
sciously one  with  Him,  to  have  the  fruition  of  his 
Godhead.  In  this  sense  it  is  that  Reason  issues  in 
the  life  of  Faith.  ...  It  is  our  very  familiarity 
with  God's  expression  of  Himself  in  the  institutions 
of  society,  in  the  moral  law,  in  the  language  and 
inner  life  of  Christians,  in  our  own  consciences, 
that  helps  to  blind  us  to  its  divinity.*' 

There  is  a  poem,  from  an  author  not  widely  known, 
entitled  "  The  Hound  of  Heaven."  It  will  affect 
you  according  to  the  education,  experience,  and  be- 
liefs of  each  ;  but  appeal  to  you  it  will,  for  in  all  is 
an  insistent  something  that  makes  for  righteousness. 

'*  I  fled  Him,  down  the  nights  and  down  the  days ; 
I  fled  Him,  down  the  arches  of  the  years  ; 
I  fled  Him,  down  the  labyrinthine  ways 

Of  my  own  mind  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  tears 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAITH.  183 

I  hid  from  Him,  and  under  running  laughter. 

Up  vistaed  hopes  I  sped  ; 

And  shot,  precipitated 
Adown  Titanic  glooms  of  chasmed  fears, 
From  those  strong  Feet  that  followed,  followed  after. 

But  with  unhurrying  chase. 

And  unperturbed  pace, 
Deliberate  speed,  majestic  instancy, 

They  beat — and  a  Voice  beat 

More  instant  than  the  Feet — 
*  All  things  betray  thee,  who  betrayest  Me.' " 

The  poem  recounts  a  life  made  tragic  by  many  a 
human  error,  but  ever  forced  to  listen  to  the  fol- 
lowing "  Feet."     It  closes  thus  : 

"  Halts  by  me  that  footfall : 

Is  my  gloom,  after  all. 
Shade  of  His  hand,  outstretched  caressingly? 

'  Ah,  fondest,  blindest,  weakest, 

I  am  He  Whom  thou  seekest ! 
Thou  dravest  love  from  thee,  who  dravest  Me.'  " 

To  me  it  requires  greater  faith  to  call  the  Christian 
experience  an  illusion  than  to  accept  its  reality  and 
validity. 

The  true  poet  is  the  living  embodiment  of  in- 
stinctive faith.  His  mind  and  heart  are  keenly  alive 
to  God's  revelation  of  Himself  in  man  and  nature. 
He  is  a  seer.  His  themes  are  the  truths  that  come 
to  him  in  visions  from  the  realms  of  truth.  He 
sees  the  principle  of  beauty  in  things  ;  and  familiar 
scenes,  commonplace  experiences  are  clothed  in  a 
spiritual  glory.  He  accepts  the  world  of  facts  and 
of  science,  but  gives  them  their  real  meaning. 
Poetic  insight,  a  thing  so  much  contemned,  because 
so  little  understood,  is  one  of  the  best  illustrations 


1 84  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

and  evidences  of  the  nature  of  faith.  Wordsworth 
calls  poetry  **  the  breath  and  finer  spirit  of  all 
knowledge.'* 

A  few  months  ago  I  chanced  to  be  looking  from  a 
railroad  train  near  Lake  Erie  in  the  very  early  dawn. 
I  beheld,  as  I  supposed,  a  beautiful  expanse  of 
water,  with  islands  and  inlets,  and,  beyond,  a  range 
of  blue  hills.  I  was  lost  in  admiration  of  the  view. 
As  the  light  increased,  a  suspicion,  at  last  growing 
into  certainty,  arose  that  I  was  the  subject  of  an 
illusion,  and  that  my  beautiful  landscape  was  but  a 
changing  scene  of  cloud  and  open  sky  on  the  hori- 
zon. But  the  blue  hills  still  seemed  real  ;  soon 
they,  too,  were  resolved  into  clouds,  and  only  a 
common  wooded  country  remained  to  the  vision. 
The  analogy  to  the  dawn  of  civilization  and  the 
flight  of  superstition,  and,  finally,  of  faith,  forced 
itself  upon  me,  and  I  was  troubled,  seeing  no  escape 
from  the  application.  Just  then  the  sun  arose, 
bringing  the  glory  of  light  to  the  eye,  and  with  it 
came  a  thrilling  mental  flash.  There  was  the  solu- 
tion, the  all-revealing  light,  the  greater  truth,  with- 
out which  neither  the  appearance  of  the  solid  earth 
nor  of  its  seeming  aerial  counterpart  would  have 
been  possible.  Both  evidenced  the  greater  exist- 
ence. Are  not  our  fancies  and  our  facts,  our  errors 
in  the  search  of  truth  and  our  truths,  our  doubts 
and  our  faith,  our  life  and  activity  and  being,  proofs 
of  a  Universal  Existence — the  revealer  of  truth,  the 
source  of  truth,  and  the  Truth  ? 

This  address  has  more  than  a  formal  purpose. 
Our  beliefs  in  great  measure  determine  our  practical 
life.     Freedom,  God,  and  Immortality  are  concep- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAITH,  185 

tions  that  have  ruled  in  the  affairs  of  men  and  made 
the  best  products  of  civilization  ;  they  must  still 
rule  in  the  individual,  if  he  would  grow  to  his  full 
stature.  We  are  in  a  century  of  doubt,  but  I  firmly; 
believe  that  in  the  ashes  of  the  old  faith  the  vital 
spark  still  glows,  and  that  from  them,  phoenix-like, 
will  rise  again  the  spiritual  life  in  new  strength  and 
beauty. 

Show  your  faith  by  your  works  ;  faith  without 
works  is  dead.  A  mere  philosophic  belief  in  ab- 
stract ideals,  not  lived  in  some  measure,  may  be 
worse  than  useless.  A  mere  intellectual  faith  that 
does  not  touch  the  heart  and  brighten  life  and 
make  work  a  blessing  lacks  the  vital  element.  Fol- 
low your  ideals  closely  with  effort.  Give  life  breadth 
as  well  as  length  ;  the  totality  will  be  the  sum  of 
your  thought,  feeling,  and  action.  When  the  active 
conflict  is  over  and  the  heroes  recount  their  battles, 
may  you  be  able  to  say:  "  I,  too,  was  there." 

There  is  still  a  practical  side.  Many  young  men 
have  powers  of  growth  and  possibilities  of  success 
beyond  their  present  belief  ;  faith  creates  results. 
Every  one  has  rare  insights  and  rare  impulses, 
showing  his  powers  and  urging  him  to  action  ;  it  is 
fatal  to  ignore  them.  Faith  is  needed  in  business  ; 
confidence  begets  confidence.  It  is  needed  in  social 
life ;  friendship  demands  to  be  met  on  equal  terms. 
It  is  a  ground  of  happiness ;  suspicion  creates  gloom 
and  pessimism.  It  is  needed  for  practical  coopera- 
tion ;  suspicion  is  isolated.  It  is  needed  by  the 
educator  ;  faith  and  love  make  zeal  in  the  calling. 
It  is  due  even  the  criminal  ;  in  most  men  there  is 
more  of  good  than  bad.  Charity  for  the  sins  and 
misfortunes  of  humanity,  hope  for  the  best,  faith  in 


1 86  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

our  endeavor  must  attend  successful  effort  to  aid 
men. 

After  all  it  is  the  essential  spirit  that  one  culti- 
vates within  him  that  will  determine  his  manifold 
deeds.  We  can  invoke  no  greater  blessing  than  a 
character  that  in  all  ways  will  assert  the  highest  dig- 
nity that  belongs  to  a  human  soul.  Be  brave  in 
your  faith.  When  materialism,  indifference,  doubt, 
ease,  and  unseemly  pleasure  claim  you  for  theirs  (the 
Devil's  own),  let  your  answer  be  what  is  expressed 
in  Carlyle's  "  Everlasting  Yea  "  :  **  And  then  was  it 
that  my  whole  Me  stood  up,  in  native  God-created 
majesty,  and  with  emphasis  recorded  its  Protest  :  / 
am  not  thine,  but  Free  !  " 

When  I  see  some  grand  old  man,  full  of  faith, 
courage,  optimism,  and  cheerfulness,  whose  life  has 
conformed  to  the  moral  law,  who  has  wielded  the 
right  arm  of  his  freedom  boldly  for  every  good  cause, 
come  to  the  end  of  life  with  love  for  man  and  trust 
in  God,  seeing  the  way  brighten  before  him,  turning 
his  sunset  into  morning,  I  must  believe  that  he  rep- 
resents the  survival  of  the  fittest,  that  his  ideals  are 
not  the  mere  fictions  of  a  blind  nature,  serving  for 
the  preservation  of  his  physical  being,  but  that  the 
order  of  his  life  has  been  in  accord  with  realities. 


EVOLUTION   OF  A   PERSONAL   IDEAL. 

A  FAMOUS  artist  once  painted  a  portrait  on  a 
unique  plan.  He  secured  a  copy  of  every  photo- 
graph of  the  subject  from  his  babyhood.  When  the 
painting  was  finished,  there  appeared  in  it  the  pic- 
ures  of  seven  people  of  different  ages,  skilfully 
grouped  and  variously  employed,  but  all  portraits 
of  the  same  person,  each  representing  a  stage  of 
growth.  We  shall  not  attempt  the  work  of  the 
artist,  but  will  endeavor  to  furnish  the  brush  and 
colors,  leaving  you  to  fill  in  the  sketches,  now  and 
at  future  times,  at  your  leisure. 

A  tale  is  told  of  a  man  who  awoke  one  night 
thinking  of  his  past  and  groaning  in  evident  mental 
distress.  To  the  solicitous  inquiry  of  his  guardian 
angel,  he  replied:  "  I  am  thinking  about  the  people 
I  used  to  be."  The  angel,  smiling,  said:  "  I  am 
thinking  seriously  about  the  people  you  are  going  to 
be  " — thinking  of 

•'  The  soul  that  has  learned  to  break  its  chains, 
The  heart  grown  tenderer  through  its  pains, 
The  mind  made  richer  for  its  thought, 
The  character  remorse  has  wrought 
To  far  undreamed  capacities  ; 
The  will  that  sits  a  king  at  ease. 
Nay,  marvel  not,  for  I  plainly  see 
And  joy  in  the  people  you're  going  to  be." 

The  gradual  realization  of  higher  and  higher  types 
is  the  general  law  of  evolution  in  the  organic  world  ; 


1 88  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

it  is  also  the  process  of  the  ideal  spiritual  develop- 
ment of  the  individual  man.  The  potency  of  an 
infinitely  varied  and  beautiful  world  was  in  the 
primeval  mist.  The  potency  of  each  higher  type  of 
being  lies  in  the  simpler  form  preceding.  Ideally 
the  potency  of  a  soul  of  strength  and  beauty,  of 
continuous  development,  is  in  the  child  and  youth. 
The  self  of  to-day  is  the  material  of  possibility 
which  should  grow  into  the  higher  self  of  to-morrow. 
Growth  is  not  merely  gain  in  knowledge  and  in- 
tellectual power.  The  science  of  education  must 
include  a  vision  of  the  entire  human  soul  with  its 
need  of  sympathy  and  direction,  its  vague  dreams 
of  possibility,  its  ideals  half- realized.  We  must  view 
the  scale  of  feelings  from  the  lowest  animal  instinct 
to  the  most  refined  ethical  emotions,  the  order  of 
their  worth  from  the  meanest  vindictiveness  to  the 
highest  altruism  under  God  and  duty,  and  note  the 
struggle  for  the  survival  of  the  fittest  of  the  im- 
pulses and  motives  under  the  guidance  of  reason 
and  with  the  responsibility  of  freedom. 

We  see  men,  yet  in  the  vigor  of  life,  men  of  learn- 
ing, of  position,  of  opportunity,  complacent  in  their 
attainments,  fixed  in  ideas  and  methods  adapted  to 
a  previous  generation  or  a  different  environment, 
psychically  prematurely  old,  their  powers  half-devel- 
oped, their  life  work  half-done.  The  men  who 
reach  the  complete  development  of  their  powers 
constantly  renew  their  youth,  and  march  with  mod- 
ern events. 

We  see  young  graduates,  men  of  power,  who, 
through  degenerate  tendencies,  lack  of  faith,  lack  of 
insight  or  lack  of  courage,  remain  stationary  and 


EVOLUTION  OF  A   PERSONAL  IDEAL.        189 

satisfied  in  the  grade  to  which  their  diplomas  duly 
testify.  They  have  as  much  life  and  growth  and  are 
as  ornamental  as  a  painted  canvas  tree  in  a  garden. 
A  lazy  indifferent  man  once  said  he  would  as  soon 
be  dead  as  alive.  When  asked  why  he  did  not  kill 
himself,  he  could  only  explain  that  he  would  as  soon 
be  alive  as  dead. 

In  the  established  church  is  sometimes  observed 
by  its  devotees  a  special  season  of  solitude  and 
silence  for  religious  meditation  ;  it  is  called  a  "  re- 
treat." There  is  a  German  tale  of  an  aged  grand- 
father who,  every  Christmas  season,  spent  a  day 
alone  in  meditation  upon  the  year  and  the  years  gone 
by,  making  a  reckoning  with  himself,  with  his  failures 
and  his  blessings,  and  casting  a  most  conscientious 
account.  On  that  day  the  noisy  children  were 
hushed  by  the  servants — "  The  master  is  keeping 
his  retreat" — and  they  went  about  in  silent  won- 
der and  imagined  he  was  making  himself  Christmas 
gifts  in  his  quiet  room  upstairs.  When  he  reap- 
peared in  the  evening,  after  his  day  of  solitude,  he 
seemed  by  his  quiet,  gentle  manners  and  thought- 
lit  face  to  have  received  heaven-sent  gifts. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  passage  of  Vergil  which  in 
my  school  days  gave  rise  in  me  to  a  new  sense  of 
beauty  in  literature  ;  nor  shall  I  forget  the  unique 
and  rich  experience  of  the  revelation.  Every  one 
has  at  times  a  new  birth,  a  disclosure  of  hitherto 
unknown  capacities  and  powers. 

The  soul  must  keep  its  retreats,  not  necessarily 
on  church-anniversary  days,  but  at  epochs,  at  peri- 
ods of  dissatisfaction  with  the  past,  at  stages  of 
new  insight — must  have  a  reckoning  with  itself  and 
readjust  itself  to  life.     When  one  reviews  the  pano- 


IQO  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

rama  of  his  own  history,  and  finds  it  inartistic,  a 
profitless  daub,  empty  of  the  ideal  or  heroic,  he  is 
keeping  a  retreat.  When  a  new  estimate  of  values 
and  possibilities  appears,  he  has  experienced  a  con- 
version, has  taken  a  new  step  in  the  evolution  of 
his  ideal  life.  The  revolt  of  the  soul  may  be  as 
necessary  to  its  health  and  growth  as  the  upheaval 
of  a  nation  is  essential  to  its  development.  It 
is  a  battle  for  new  principles,  for  advance,  for 
freedom. 

Tolstoi  relates  a  most  striking  reminiscence  of  his 
own  life,  substantially  thus  :  It  was  in  1872  that 
the  Tolstoi  of  to-day  saw  the  light.  Then  a  new 
insight  revealed  his  former  life  as  empty.  It  was 
on  a  beautiful  spring  morning  with  bright  sun, 
singing  birds,  and  humming  insects.  He  had  halted 
to  rest  his  horse  by  a  wayside  cross.  Some  peasants 
passing  stopped  there  to  offer  their  devotions.  He 
was  touched  to  the  depths  by  their  simple  faith,  and 
when  he  took  up  his  journey  he  knew  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  is  within  us.  He  says:  "  It  was 
then,  twenty-three  years  ago,  that  the  Tolstoi  of 
to-day  sprang  into  existence." 

President  Garfield,  when  at  the  head  of  Hiram 
College,  once  addressed  his  students,  in  a  way  that 
made  a  lasting  impression,  on  the  subject  of  "  Mar- 
gins.'* Personal  distinction,  success,  depend,  not 
on  the  average  bulk  of  knowledge,  power,  and  skill, 
but  on  that  margin  that  extends  a  little  beyond  the 
reach  of  one's  fellows,  a  margin  gained  by  some 
extra  devotion,  by  sacrifice  and  work,  by  ideals  a 
little  more  advanced  or  more  clearly  seen. 

Some  recent  and  notable  inductions  of  physiolog- 
ical psychology  along  the  line  of  evolution  reaffirm 


EVOLUTION  OF  A   PERSONAL  IDEAL. 


191 


that  without  pain  there  can  be  no  happiness,  that 
without  struggle  there  can  be  no  positive  character, 
that  at  times  punishment  may  be  most  salutary  and 
that  a  deadhead  in  society  degenerates  as  does  a 
parasite  in  the  animal  kingdom.  Since  these  views 
are  in  line  with  the  teachings  of  instinct  and  reason, 
from  old  Plato  down,  we  may  believe  that  evolution 
as  applied  to  the  spiritual  nature  of  man  is,  indeed, 
becoming  a  hopeful  doctrine.  We  have  had  some- 
what too  much  of  Herbert  Spencer's  pleasure  the- 
ory, and  pursuit  of  inclination,  and  the  discipline  of 
natural  consequences,  and  lines  of  least  resistance. 
The  moral  drama  must  be  enacted  on  a  field  of 
conflict. 

The  principle  of  personal  evolution  is  "  ideals  and 
action. "_  Mr.  Gladstone's  wonderful  character  and 
great  career  are  a  pointed  illustration  of  this  fact. 
Even  his  fixed  standards  of  conduct  were  a  contribu- 
tion to  his  growth  and  greatness.  He  always  asked 
concerning  a  policy  of  state :  Is  it  just  ?  No  un- 
worthy motive  was  ever  known  to  determine  his 
public  or  his  private  acts.  While  working  ever  ac- 
cording to  permanent  standards  of  right,  his  was 
essentially  a  life  of  change  and  growth.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone had  a  mind  always  seeking  truth,  and,  more- 
over, had  a  rare  capacity  for  receiving  new  ideas. 
In  his  history  one  can  discover  many  distinct  stages 
of  development.  He  himself  acknowledges  three 
great  "transmigrations  of  spirit"  in  his  parlia- 
mentary career.  He  broke  away  from  his  early 
political  traditions  and,  in  consequence,  more  than 
once  was  obliged  to  seek  new  constituents  who 
"marched  with  the  movement  of  his  mind."  He 
was  ever  "  struggling  toward  the  light,"  and  was 


192  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

ever  a  fighter.  His  political  opponents  said  of  him 
that  his  foot  was  always  in  the  stirrup.  His  mind 
rested  not  by  inactivity,  but  by  "  stretching  itself 
out  in  another  direction."  He  threw  himself  into 
new  and  important  movements  for  humanity  with 
tremendous  zeal  and  force. 

Lord  Macaulay  pithily  expresses  a  law  of  human 
progress:  "  The  point  which  yesterday  was  invis- 
ible is  our  goal  to-day,  and  will  be  our  starting  post 
to-morrow."  Maurice  Maeterlinck  says  :  "  If  at 
the  moment  you  think  or  say  something  that  is 
too  beautiful  to  be  true  in  you — if  you  have  but 
endeavored  to  think  or  to  say  it  to-day,  on  the 
morrow  it  will  be  true.  We  must  try  to  be  more 
beautiful  than  ourselves  ;  we  shall  never  distance 
our  soul." 

In  the  problem  of  growth  do  not  neglect  Emer- 
son's principle  of  compensation.  As  men  injure  or 
help  others,  so  they  injure  or  help  themselves.  Pun- 
ishment is  the  inseparable  attendant  of  crime.  Re- 
quital is  swift,  sure,  and  exact.  Vice  makes  spiritual 
blindness.  The  real  drama  of  Hfe  is  within.  Some 
one  has  said  that  punishment  for  misdeeds  is  not 
something  which  happens  to  a  man,  but  something 
which  happens  in  a  man.  Balzac  describes  a  magic 
skin,  endowed  with  power  to  measure  the  term  of 
life  of  its  possessor,  which  shrank  with  his  every 
expressed  wish.  Personal  worth  grows  or  shrinks 
with  the  daily  life  and  thought.  Every  one  can  will 
his  own  growth  in  strength  and  symmetry  or  can 
become  dwarfed  and  degenerate.  Wrong  takes 
away  from  the  sum  of  worth  ;  virtue  makes  increase 
from  the  source  of  all  good.  Emerson  says  that 
even  a  man's  defects  may  be  turned  to  good.     For 


EVOLUTION  OF  A   PERSONAL  IDEAL.  193 

instance,  if  he  has  a  disposition  that  fails  to  invite 
companionship,  he  gains  habits  of  self-help,  and 
thus,  **  like  the  wounded  oyster,  he  mends  his  shell 
with  pearl." 

If  you  would  see  the  fulness  of  God's  revelation 
in  men,  look  into  the  minds  of  those  whose  biog- 
raphies are  worth  writing — men  who  in  affairs  of 
the  world  have  shown  clear  thought  and  accurate 
judgment,  and  in  spiritual  things  have  had  visions 
that  may  strengthen  and  confirm  your  feeble  faith. 
Study  the  record  of  their  words  spoken  at  the  fire- 
side in  the  presence  of  intimate  and  congenial  friends, 
when  they  showed  glimpses  of  the  real  self.  Learn  in 
biography  the  history  of  great  souls  and  see  in  them 
the  ideal  which  is  the  ideal  of  the  race,  and,  hence, 
your  ideal.  With  the  going  out  of  this  century 
some  great  lives  have  ended — lives  that  embodied 
high  types  of  rugged,  honest  satire,  political  power, 
poetic  thought,  pure  statesmanship,  ethical  stand- 
ards, religious  faith,  scientific  devotion.  Their 
histories  have  been  written,  and  enough  is  in  them 
to  stir  the  semiconscious  indolent  nature  of  any 
young  man  to  cultivate  a  high  personal  ideal.  When 
I  left  college  my  first  investment  was  in  a  few  addi- 
tional good  books.  I  advise  students  to  buy  a  few 
of  the  best  biographies  recently  published,  and  read 
them  with  a  reverent  mind. 

When  you  see  a  man  of  marked  power,  you  may 
be  sure,  always  sure,  that  he  has  used  means  of 
growth  which  average  people  ignore,  means  without 
which  his  strength  would  never  have  appeared.  He 
has  been  a  student,  perhaps  of  Plato,  of  Shake- 
speare, of  the  Bible,  of  science  or  of  human  nature. 
13 


194 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


He  has  gone  deeply  into  the  character  or  writings 
of  master  minds  in  some  field  of  knowledge  or  ac- 
tivity. If  he  has  a  truly  great  nature  he  is  able  to 
find  in  many  a  passage  of  Hebrew  writings  a  power 
that  welled  up  from  the  great  hearts  of  the  prophets 
of  old — or  a  wisdom  that  gradually  evolved  with  civ- 
ilization through  experiment,  disaster,  struggle,  and 
contrition,  and  was  corrected  and  formulated  with 
rare  understanding  by  the  few  great  minds  of  his- 
tory. Such  writings  are  a  very  wellspring  of  knowl- 
edge and  understanding  for  a  young  man  of  this  or 
any  age. 

Have  you  read  the  earlier  as  well  as  the  later 
writings  of  Rudyard  Kipling  ?  What  a  growth  of 
power  !  The  evolution  of  his  ideal  ever  promises 
and  realizes  greater  things.  When  recently  it 
seemed  that  the  riper  fruits  of  his  progress  would  be 
denied  us,  the  keenest  solicitude  was  everywhere 
manifest.  It  was  a  spontaneous  tribute  to  the 
principle  of  ideal  spiritual  evolution  in  the  individ- 
ual. We  now  know  Kipling's  secret.  In  his  weak- 
ness and  his  sorrow  he  has  already  turned  to  a  new 
and  more  ambitious  undertaking  and  has  gathered 
to  himself  all  material  that  may  enable  him  to  pluck 
out  from  his  subject  the  heart  of  its  mystery,  and 
reveal  it  to  the  world  of  thought  and  culture.  It  is 
with  the  magic  of  industry  that  he  evolves  the  ideal 
of  his  life. 

The  following  story  is  told  of  Kipling — that  it  is 
not  authentic  does  not  rob  it  of  its  use  :  Father 
and  son  were  on  a  voyage.  The  father,  suffering 
from  seasickness,  had  retired  to  his  cabin,  when  an 
officer  appeared  and  cried  :  **  Your  son  has  climbed 
out   on  the   foreyard,  and   if  he  lets  go  he'll  be 


EVOLUTION  OF  A   PERSONAL  IDEAL.         195 

drowned  ;    we  cannot  save  him."      "  Oh,    is  that 
all  ? "  replied  Mr.  Kipling  ;  "  he  won't  let  go." 

Be  men  of  to-day  ;  the  past  is  useful  to  make  us 
wise  in  the  present.  The  poet  Tennyson  had  a 
wonderful  influence  in  his  generation.  His  influ- 
ence is  due  not  alone  to  his  rich  thought  and  poetic 
skill ;  he  had  the  broad  liberal  view  that  could  adapt 
itself  to  the  changing  world  of  science,  philosophy, 
and  religion,  and  he  thus  opened  up  the  avenues 
of  approach  to  all  classes  of  thinkers.  He  was  a 
man  with  an  evolving  ideal,  a  free,  sane,  healthy 
mind. 

Poetry  is  not  a  thing  of  the  past  ;  it  has  not  yet 
become  familiar  with  its  new  themes.  Kipling  can 
sing  the  "  Song  of  Steam  "  and  write  the  romance 
of  the  "  Day's  Work  " — can  find  poetry  in  a  loco- 
motive, a  bridge,  a  ship  or  an  engine.  Kipling  is 
right  when  he  makes  McAndrew,  the  hard-headed 
engineer  of  an  ocean  liner,  see  in  the  vast  motor 
mechanism  an  "  orchestra  sublime,"  "  singing  like 
the  morning  stars,"  and  proclaiming:  **  Not  unto 
us  the  praise,  or  man."  '*  From  coupler-flange  to 
spindle-guide  I  see  Thy  Hand,  O  God" — and  this 
vision  is  always  the  ultimate  ground  of  poetry.  On 
a  palace  steamer  between  New  York  and  the  New 
England  coast  I  once  heard  an  uncultured  workman 
exclaim  :  **  When  I  watch  this  mighty  engine,  with 
its  majestic,  powerful  movement,  I  feel  that  there 
is  a  God."  At  first  thought  the  sentiment  was 
humorously  illogical,  but  his  instinct  was  right. 
The  works  of  nature  and  the  works  of  man  alike 
suggest  a  divine  origin — God  working  in  nature  and 
working  through  man. 


196 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


If  this  is  a  divine  world,  then  there  is  no  claim  of 
the  commonplace,  no  form  of  daily  labor,  no  need 
of  the  unfortunate,  no  problem  of  society  or  gov- 
ernment that  is  not  a  theme  of  dignity  and  worthy 
of  attention  and  helpful  effort.  The  form  of  truth 
is  an  empty,  useless  abstraction,  unless  it  is  given  a 
content,  unless  it  adjusts  wrongs,  removes  evils,  im- 
proves material  conditions,  and  strengthens  growth 
among  all  classes  of  people  to-day.  The  man  who 
beautifies  his  lawn,  plants  trees,  lays  good  walks  or 
cleans  the  streets  is  made  more  conscious  of  the 
divine  within  him — is  a  better  man.  Spinoza  re- 
garded his  skill  in  making  lenses  to  be  as  essential  a 
part  of  his  life  as  his  philosophical  interest. 

Every  advance  in  civilization  changes  the  per- 
spective, and  new  views  and  truths  appear.  Within 
a  few  years  we  have  seen  in  America  almost  an  en- 
tire change  of  attitude  regarding  many  essential 
political  and  social  questions.  Throughout  the 
world,  Christianity,  by  clearer  interpretation  of  its 
spirit,  is  gaining  new  influence  in  practical  fields. 
New  problems  have  not  the  enchantment  of  distance  ; 
history  and  poetry  have  not  thrown  a  halo  about 
them  ;  but  they  have  the  interest  of  present,  practi- 
cal, living  issues.  Every  great  man  has  attained  his 
self-realization  as  a  creative  factor  in  the  work  of  his 
own  age.     Take  a  hand  in  making  current  history. 

Successful  men.  have  shown  at  the  close  of  their 
student  life  only  the  hope  of  what  they  finally  be- 
came. But  they  were  men  who  knew  how  to  cher- 
ish every  helpful  impulse,  to  learn  from  every 
experience,  to  profit  by  each  fresh  insight,  to  con- 
centrate their  powers  upon  single  tasks,  and  at  each 


EVOLUTION  OF  A   PERSONAL   IDEAL. 


197 


fulfilment  look  forward  to  still  greater  undertakings. 
Such  minds  wear  the  beauty  of  promise, 

"that which  sets 
The  budding  rose  above  the  rose  full  blown." 

The  realization  of  ideal  promise  is  not  merely  in- 
tellectual power  and  practical  attainment.  A  man 
may  have  these,  and  yet  lack  a  rich  mind.  Sym- 
pathy, pure  ideals,  morality,  religious  sentiment 
belong  to  a  complete  nature.  Without  them  one  is 
not  a  fit  leader  or  a  choice  companion.  A  wholly 
irreligious  man  is  not  conscious  of  his  soul.  As 
the  years  advance,  with  the  progressive  man  there 
is  more  heart,  more  simplicity  and  truth,  more 
moral  and  spiritual  interest. 

In  the  "  Memoir  of  Lord  Tennyson  "  by  his  son, 
a  chapter  on  the  **  In  Memoriam  "  throws  brilliant 
side  lights  on  the  essential  character  of  the  great 
poet.  One  would  almost  take  the  truths  there  ex- 
pressed as  his  creed,  and  the  inner  life  there  revealed 
as  the  consummation  of  a  personal  ideal.  We  note 
his  "  splendid  faith  in  the  growing  purpose  of  the 
sum  of  life,  and  in  the  noble  destiny  of  the  individ- 
ual man  ; "  his  belief  that  "  it  is  the  great  purpose 
which  consecrates  life ;"  his  feeling  that  "  only  under 
the  inspiration  of  ideals,  and  with  his  *  sword  bathed 
in  heaven,'  can  a  man  combat  the  cynical  indiffer- 
ence, the  intellectual  selfishness,  the  sloth  of  will, 
the  utilitarian  materialism  of  a  transition  age;"  his 
faith  that  '*  the  truth  must  be  larger,  purer,  nobler 
than  any  mere  human  expression  of  it;"  his  affirma- 
tion that,  if  you  "  take  away  belief  in  the  self-con- 
scious personality  of  God,  you  take  away  the  back- 
bone of  the  world."     He  believed  in  prayer.     In 


198 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


his  own  words:  **  Prayer  is  like  opening  a  sluice  be- 
tween the  great  ocean  and  our  little  channels  when 
the  great  sea  gathers  itself  together  and  flows  in  at 
full  tide." 

Ideals  do  not  belong  to  a  mystical  realm,  to  a  re- 
mote age  or  to  an  indefinite  future.  They  are  not 
the  exclusive  possession  of  sage,  saint,  or  poet. 
They  belong  to  this  day,  here,  to  us.  They  belong 
to  the  professional  man,  as  a  man,  as  much  as  to  the 
man  of  liberal  culture. 

To  see  the  idyllic  in  what  is  familiar,  to  realize 
the  heroic  in  ourselves,  to  make  the  lessons  of  great- 
ness our  own,  to  work  with  the  spirit  of  our  time 
are  the  means  of  growth.  Every  thought  and  every 
act,  flowing  from  the  conscious  will,  fashion  the  soul. 

"  I  held  it  truth,  with  him  who  sings 
To  one  clear  harp  in  divers  tones, 
That  men  may  rise  on  stepping-stones 
Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things." 


o 


THE   GREEK   VIRTUES   IN    MODERN 
APPLICATION. 

At  the  risk  of  imitating  the  severe  logical  dis- 
courses which  proceed  at  least  as  far  as  fifthly,  let 
us  enumerate  some  essential  conditions  that  by  the 
agreement  of  thoughtful  men  are  requisite  for  a  sat- 
isfactory life:  (i)  a  sound  body  ;  (2)  courage  ;  (3)  \ 
intellectual  ideals  ;  (4)  moral  ideals  ;  (5)  reverence.  ^ 
While  these  elements  are  selected  for  their  intrinsic 
value,  without  reference  to  the  history  of  ethical 
thought,  the  discovery  that  they  show  more  than 
a  fancied  similarity  to  the  ancient  and  the  early 
Christian  ideals  strengthens  our  belief  in  their 
value,  and  suggests  that  essential  human  standards 
are  not  for  one  people  or  one  age,  but  for  all  peoples 
and  all  time,  and  that  they  are  spontaneously  rec- 
ognized even  in  an  age  like  ours,  when  men  readily 
turn  toward  utilitarian  ends. 

If  we  go  back  to  the  dawn  of  philosophic  thought 
and  listen  to  the  early  revelators  of  the  nature  of 
man  and  his  relation  to  the  world  and  society — con- 
verse with  Plato  in  the  groves  of  Academus,  or  walk 
with  Aristotle  in  the  shady  avenues  of  the  Lyceum 
— we  find  them  proclaiming  the  great  truths  which 
have  been  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  ages,  and 
urging  upon  men  Moderation,  Courage,  Wisdom, 
Justice,  and  the  Good,  or  God,  as  aim.  If  we  cross 
over  from  the  ancient  world  to  the  Christian  Empire, 


200  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

where  old  ethical  thought  was  already  taking  on 
deeper  meaning,  broader  application,  and  richer  life, 
we  find  in  the  Cardinal  Virtues  of  St.  Ambrose  and 
St.  Augustine  a  new  and  vitalized  form  of  the  Greek 
Virtues:  Temperance,  Christian  Fortitude,  Chris- 
tian Wisdom,  Christian  Justice,  God  as  aim.  If  we 
come  down  to  modern  times,  and  catch  the  spirit  of 
ideals  that  still  dwell  among  the  people,  we  find  that 
human  nature  is  everywhere  the  same,  and  that  the 
experience  of  human  life  in  all  ages  discovers  through 
the  organization  of  society  the  same  divine  principles 
— laws  to  be  reverenced  and  obeyed,  to  be  followed 
as  practical  guides  to  success. 

Modern  psychology  has  rendered  a  service  of 
far-reaching  practical  benefit  in  showing  more  defi- 
nitely the  intimate  connection  between  the  brain 
and  mental  action.  In  this  connection  of  body 
and  soul  the  two  are  correlated;  the  brain  is  or- 
ganic to  the  functions  of  the  soul.  The  health  of 
the  brain  is  largely  dependent  upon  general  phys- 
ical conditions,  and  the  old  apothegm,  '' Mens  satia 
in  corpore  sanOy ' '  is  interpreted  with  a  new  meaning 
not  fully  known  in  the  days  of  Juvenal.  Maxims 
of  health,  sifted  by  the  experience  of  ages,  trans- 
mitted from  generation  to  generation,  and  confirmed 
by  the  proofs  of  modern  science,  are  wisdom  of  in- 
estimable value  for  our  instruction.  He  who  wastes 
energy  of  the  body  wastes  vigor  and  duration  of 
mental  power.  Rev.  William  R.  Alger  used  to  say : 
"  Keep  yourself  at  highest  working  capacity  by  pre- 
serving the  vigor  of  the  body.**  The  various  ways 
of  wasting  physical  energy  are  susceptible  of  classi- 
fication, and  it  is  well  worth  the  while  to  make  a 


GREEK    VIRTUES  IN  MODERN  APPLICATION.     20I 

thoughtful  analysis  of  the  subject.  We  admire  the 
firm  step,  erect  bearing,  clear  eye,  and  bright  brain 
that  belong  to  healthful  habits  and  noble  manhood. 
Many  a  man  by  carefully  conserving  the  vital  forces 
will  outlive  and  outdo  others  who,  with  stronger  1 
bodies,  waste  their  energy. 

Physical  sins  react  upon  the  mind  and  debase  1 
character.  They  are  signs  of  a  character  already 
weak,  and  the  interaction  between  mind  and  body 
doubly  hastens  the  relaxing  of  just  restraint.  The 
ancient  virtue  of  moderation,  or  temperance,  meant 
more  than  temperate  habit  ;  it  meant  the  submis- 
sion of  animal  unreason  to  reason — the  "  observ- 
ance of  due  measure  in  all  conduct." 

In  accord  with  the  maxims  of  health  are  the 
Greek  Virtue  of  Moderation,  the  Cardinal  Virtue  of 
Temperance,  the  Hebrew  Purity.  Regard  for  these 
maxims  is  an  important  condition  of  success. 

Courage  appears  in  the  Greek  Category  as  heart 
for  energetic  action,  and  in  the  Cardinal  Virtues  as 
firmness  for  the  right  and  against  the  wrong.  Cour- 
age is  the  sine  qua  non  of  success.  The  student 
must  have  courage  to  overcome  his  inertia.  A  ven- 
erable professor  of  my  college  days  used  to  say: 
"  Every  young  man  is  naturally  as  lazy  as  he  can  be, 
and  the  greatest  problem  of  education  is  to  gain  an  \ 
energetic  will."  Courage  is  required  to  undertake 
an  enterprise  demanding  long  years  of  toil.  A  vol- 
ume recently  published  contains  the  early  experience 
of  celebrated  authors  now  living,  and  nearly  every 
one  owes  his  success  to  a  persevering  determination, 
in  spite  of  poverty,  rebuffs,  criticism,  and  repeated 
failures.     Their  genius  lies  in  their  courage.     We 


202  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

need  the  courage  of  our  convictions  to  stand  by  the 
right.  The  great  reformers  have  shared  this  kind  of 
confidence  of  soul.  Nearly  all  of  Carlyle's  types  of 
the  world's  great  heroes  possessed  it  to  an  almost 
sublime  degree,  and,  most  of  all,  the  hero  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. Waiving  all  religious  controversies  that 
centre  about  the  doctrines  of  Martin  Luther,  he  is 
a  figure  for  the  world  to  admire.  Some  of  his 
memorable  words  are  known  as  household  words, 
but,  like  strains  of  familiar  grand  music,  are  ever 
grateful — they  lose  nothing  by  repeating.  When 
warned  that  Duke  George  of  Leipzig  was  his  enemy 
he  said:  "  Had  I  business,  I  would  ride  into  Leipzig 
though  it  rained  Duke  Georges  for  nine  days  run- 
ning." When  summoned  to  the  Diet  at  Worms, 
he  answered  the  friends  who  would  dissuade  him : 
"  Were  there  as  many  devils  in  Worms  as  there  are 
roof  tiles,  I  would  on."  When  urged  in  the  pres- 
ence of  that  august  council  to  recant,  he  replied  : 
**  Here  I  stand;  I  can  do  no  other;  God  help  me." 
And  the  courage  of  his  religious  faith  rose  to  its 
climax  when  he  boldly  faced  the  supernatural  and 
hurled  his  inkstand  at  the  head  of  the  Devil  himself. 
The  student  needs  the  courage  of  faith  in  his  own 
powers  and  possibilities.  Many  a  one  fails  because 
he  has  not  confidence  in  himself.  In  rare  moments 
of  meditation  one  sometimes  discovers  capacities 
and  possibilities  of  attainment  that  become  a  life 
inspiration. 

We  are  proud  of  our  Teutonic  ancestry;  of  the 
bold  enterprise  that  led  the  Teutons  across  Europe  in 
conquest,  or  impelled  them  to  embark  in  their  gal- 
leys and  push  forth  with  adventurous  spirit,  and 
fearlessly  ride  the  tempestuous  waves,  as  their  oars 


GREEK    VIRTUES  IN  MODERN  APPLICATION. 


203 


kept  time  to  the  music  of  their  songs  of  victory. 
Their  courageous  and  progressive  spirit,  tamed  and 
refined,  reappeared  in  the  religious  convictions  of 
the  Puritans,  in  the  settlement  of  America,  in  the 
westward  march  of  civilization  in  our  own  country, 
in  the  confidence  of  the  pioneers  that  early  crossed 
the  plains  and  pitched  their  tents  by  these  mighty 
mountains,  in  the  energy  that  has  made  all  that  the 
world  holds  as  greatest  and  best  in  material  civiliza- 
tion, invention,  government,  science,  literature,  and 
moral  and  religious  principle.  The  young  man  who 
has  in  his  veins  the  blood  of  this  people,  and  inher- 
its the  blessings  that  his  race  has  wrought  out,  is  a 
recreant  to  his  trust  if  he  does  not  stand  courage- 
ously for  all  that  is  best  in  his  own  development, 
and  all  that  is  best  in  the  progress  of  his  age.  Thor, 
the  Norse  god,  possessed  a  belt  of  strength  by 
which  his  might  was  doubled,  and  a  precious  ham- 
mer which  when  thrown  returned  to  the  hand  of  its 
own  accord.  When  he  wielded  the  hammer,  as  the 
Northern  legends  relate,  he  grasped  it  until  the 
knuckles  grew  white.  This  hammer  is  an  heirloom 
of  the  Northern  races,  handed  down  from  the  Halls 
of  Walhalla.  And  herein  lies  the  secret  of  success : 
grasp  the  hammer  until  the  knuckles  grow  white. 

Plato  held  Wisdom  to  be  the  supreme  means 
by  which  to  attain  the  great  purpose  of  human  ex- 
istence. The  Cardinal  Virtue  of  Christian  Wisdom 
is  to  gain  knowledge  of  God.  Plato  conceived  growth 
in  wisdom  to  be  a  gradual  realization,  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  man,  of  the  eternal  ideas.  Man  came 
from  heaven  and  in  his  progress  in  knowledge  he  was 
but  climbing  the  upward  path  to  regain  his  lost  estate. 


204 


EDUCATION  AND   LIFE. 


The  exercise  of  wisdom  marked  him  off  from  the 
lower  order  of  beings,  and  he  was  fulfilling  the  dis- 
tinctively human  function  only  when  living  a  rational 
life. 

If  nature  is  a  congeries  of  metaphors  arranged  in 
a  system  of  relations  and  constituting  a  sublime 
allegory,  and  we,  being  the  offspring  of  God,  may 
interpret  this  allegory  and  thereby  come  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  verities,  if  there  is  a  spiritual  sense  that 
may  feel  the  presence  of  great  truths  and  of  a  personal 
God — then  man  pursues  his  supreme  calling  when 
through  the  laws  of  physical  nature,  when  through 
the  beauty  of  its  forms,  when  through  knowledge  of 
self,  when  through  the  world's  history  and  literature 
and  philosophy  he  aims  at  a  further  acquaintance 
with  truth.  If  knowledge  and  the  power  that  comes 
through  knowledge  enhance  our  material  civilization 
and  make  more  favorable  conditions  for  the  body  and 
more  leisure  for  the  mind  and  more  refinement  for 
the  spirit,  if  to  create  material  things  brings  us  more 
in  accord  with  the  creative  spirit  of  the  universe, 
then  we  have  the  highest  incentives  to  gain  knowl- 
edge toward  so-called  practical  ends. 

The  universities  are  not  always  the  first  discov- 
erers of  wisdom,  but  they  are  the  storehouses  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  ages,  and  the  distributing  points. 
They  are  not  a  substitute  for  nature  and  real  life, 
but  they  help  to  interpret  both.  They  are  not  a 
substitute  for  practical  experience,  but  they  bestow 
the  instruments  with  which  to  do  better  the  work  of 
practical  experience.  They  do  not  create  power, 
but  they  develop  power. 

A  few  geniuses  have  in  strong  degree  the  intel- 
lectual impulse  and    follow  it   until   they  become 


GREEK    VIRTUES  IN  MODERN  APPLICATION.     205 

original  and  creative,  and  contribute  to  the  world's 
insight.  But  the  average  youth  needs  all  that  the 
formal  training  of  the  schools  can  give  him.  When 
the  student  is  once  aroused  by  the  sense  of  his  priv- 
ileges and  duties,  he  will  select  no  easy  goal  to  attain. 
He  will  not  be  satisfied  until  he  has  learned  the 
secrets  of  nature's  processes,  has  examined  his  own 
nature,  has  made  use  of  the  recorded  experience  of 
the  ages — thereby  taking  a  giant  stride  in  knowledge 
that  he  could  not  have  taken  alone — has  given  him- 
self the  power  to  help  in  the  work  of  his  own  time. 

Justice  was  regarded  by  Plato  as  the  ground  of 
social  uprightness  ;  Christian  justice  recognized  the 
brotherhood  of  man,  with  all  that  follows  in  moral 
conduct;  "  moral  ideals  "  for  us  has  the  same  signi- 
ficance. This  is  not  the  place  for  the  discussion  of 
ethical  theories^  but  it  is  of  the  highest  importance 
for  the  young  man,  after  wandering  more  or  less 
vaguely  over  the  field  of  ethical  doctrines,  to  turn 
to  the  nature  of  his  own  being  and  find  there  writ- 
ten the  supreme  fact  of  moral  obligation,  with  its 
implications  of  freedom  of  will,  a  personal  God,  and 
immortality  of  the  soul. 

Every  man  knows  that  even  in  his  ordinary  ap- 
provable  acts  he  does  not  work  to  the  end  of  pleas- 
ure, but  that  he  has  impulses  that  reach  out  in 
fellowship  and  compassion  toward  others,  impulses 
that  reach  out  toward  the  Truth  and  Beauty  and 
Supreme  Goodness  of  the  world.  Every  man  knows 
that  he  possesses  a  power  to  choose  amongst  and 
regulate  his  impulses;  that  such  aims  are  to  be 
employed  as  will  conduce  to  the  perfection  of  his 
being  and  of  all  human  being;  that  his  reward  lies 


206  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

in  this  perfection,  in  a  noble  and  approvable  charac- 
ter, which  is  not  to  be  completed  in  this  life,  but  is 
to  attain  its  full  realization  in  a  future  life.  And 
hence  is  revealed  to  him  the  rational  necessity  of 
that  life,  without  which  the  present  struggle  and 
growth  would  lack  meaning. 

If  there  is  moral  order  in  the  universe,  then  man 
will  be  successful  as  he  conforms  to  that  order.  If 
he  goes  against  the  great  silent  forces  moving  in  the 
direction  of  Right,  his  life  can  but  result  in  failure. 
Men  who  show  a  disregard  for  moral  law  are  held 
to  possess  a  dangerous  malady  slowly  decaying  the 
tissues  of  the  soul.  They  are  treated  with  suspi- 
cion in  business  relations  and  condemned  in  the 
minds  of  others  and  by  their  own  judgment.  Sound 
to  the  core  must  a  man  be  who  would  make  the 
most  of  life  and  receive  the  approval  which  the  world 
bestows  upon  character. 

A  true  man  is  bold ;  he  feels  that  for  him  all  the 
forces  of  right  will  contend.  He  has  courage  for  his 
work,  because  he  knows  he  is  on  the  right  path  and 
is  moving  toward  ever  higher  attainments  and  a 
supreme  result. 

The  subject  is  old  as  man,  the  thoughts  are  trite ; 
why  not  utter  your  maxim  and  proceed,  or  rather 
say  nothing  ?  While  there  are  lives  empty  of  pur- 
pose and  hearts  that  bleed  in  contrition  and  trag- 
edies that  fill  prisons  and  madhouses,  there  is  much 
to  say  and  more  to  do.  Have  we  no  further  use  for 
wisdom  ?  Have  we  ceased  to  erect  perennial  mon- 
uments to  the  memory  of  saints  and  reformers  ? 
If  the  subject  is  old,  the  generations  of  men  are 
new,  and  the  race  has  not  attained  its  perfection. 
The  best  men  and  the  best  thoughts  reveal  us  to 


GREEK    VIRTUES  IN  MODERN  APPLICATION,     207 

ourselves,  are  the  source  of  our  aspiration ;  and  we 
of  the  present,  not  half-way  toward  the  goal,  have 
need  of  our  Socrates,  Augustine,  Luther,  and  su- 
premely of  the  divine  Christ.  We  still  have  need  of 
our  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

The  aim  of  Plato's  philosophy  was  the  Supreme 
Good,  or  God.  The  Cardinal  Virtues  were  framed 
in  the  light  of  religious  faith.  Reverence  is  the 
sentiment  whose  object  is  God.  Says  the  Sage  of 
Chelsea:  **  All  that  we  do  springs  out  of  Mystery, 
Spirit,  invisible  Force."  Some,  well- versed  in 
Spencer's  works,  have  failed  to  note  this  passage: 
"  One  truth  must  grow  ever  clearer — the  truth  that 
there  is  an  Inscrutable  Existence  everywhere  mani- 
fested, to  which  the  man  of  science  can  neither 
find  nor  conceive  either  beginning  or  end.  Amid 
the  mysteries  which  become  the  more  mysterious  the 
more  they  are  thought  about  there  will  remain  the 
one  absolute  certainty,  that  he  is  ever  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  Infinite  and  Eternal  Energy,  from  which 
all  things  proceed."  Add  to  this  the  Faith  which 
is  the  **  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen,"  and  you  have  the  origin  of  all 
religions,  of  all  temples  of  worship.  It  is  the  con- 
ception of  the  philosopher  and  the  insight  of  the 
poet  ;  it  is  held  most  strongly  by  the  most  pro- 
found. Few  great  men,  though  they  may  reject 
formal  creeds,  are  without  the  feeling  of  Reverence. 
Carlyle's  "  Everlasting  Yea  "  is  the  vision  of  a  true 
seer,  and  it  reveals,  in  the  spontaneous  language  of 
earnest  thought,  the  breadth  and  depth  of  a  possible 
Christian  experience.  He  speaks  through  the  hero 
of  the  "  Sartor  Resartus."     By  disappointment  and 


208  EDUCATION  AND   LIFE. 

dim  faith  the  universe  had  become  to  him  a  vast 
merciless  machine ;  he  was  filled  with  an  indefinable 
fear.  But  over  his  soul  came  the  spirit  of  Indigna- 
tion and  Defiance,  and  he  shook  off  fear  of  all  that 
is  evil,  and  all  that  may  happen  of  evil.  In  his 
words:  "  The  Everlasting  No  had  said:  'Behold, 
thou  art  fatherless,  outcast;  and  the  Universe  is 
mine  (the  Devil's) ' ;  to  which  my  whole  Me  now 
made  answer:  *  I  am  not  thine,  but  Free,  and  for- 
ever hate  thee!'  "  This  is  but  the  first  step,  and 
only  by  the  "  Annihilation  of  Self  "  does  he  awake 
to  a  "  new  Heaven  and  a  new  Earth."  Now  nature 
is  seen  to  be  the  "  Living  Garment  of  God."  The 
Universe  is  no  longer  "  dead  and  demoniacal,"  but 
"godlike  and  his  Father's."  He  looks  upon  his 
fellow  man  with  an  "  infinite  Love,  an  infinite  Pity," 
and  enters  the  porch  of  the  "  Sanctuary  of  Sorrow." 
Happiness  is  no  longer  the  aim ;  happiness  cannot 
be  satisfied.  "  There  is  in  man  a  Higher  than  Love 
of  Happiness;  he  can  do  without  Happiness,  and 
instead  thereof  find  Blessedness!"  "Love  not 
pleasure;  love  God.  This  is  the  EVERLASTING 
Yea."  The  Temple  of  Sorrow  (the  Christian  Tem- 
ple) is  partly  in  ruins,  but  in  a  crypt  the  sacred  lamp 
still  burns  for  him,  and  for  all.  Applied  Christian- 
ity is  action.  He  says:  "  Do  the  Duty  which  lies 
nearest  thee:  thy  second  Duty  will  already  have 
become  clearer."  Thy  opportunity  is  in  whatever 
thy  condition  now  and  here  offers  thee.  "  Whatso- 
ever thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  whole 
might."  Christianity  "  flows  through  all  our  hearts 
and  modulates  and  divinely  leads  them."  Of  im- 
mortality he  says:  "  Know  of  a  truth  that  only  the 
Time-shadows    have    perished,    or   are   perishable; 


GREEK    VIRTUES  IN  MODERN  APPLICATION.     2C9 

that  the  real  Being  of  whatever  was,  and  whatever 
is,  and  whatever  will  be,  is  even  now  and  forever. 
.  .  .  Believe  it  thou  must;  understand  it  thou 
canst  not." 

If  we  may  draw  a  lesson  from  this,  Carlyle's 
greatest  work,  it  is  that  the  completeness  of  life  re- 
quires vivifying,  hope-giving,  sin-subduing,  cour- 
age-inspiring faith  and  reverence.  To  the  hero  of 
Carlyle's  prose  poem  success  did  not  come,  until  the 
"  Fire-Baptism  "  of  his  soul.  He  confesses:  **  I  di- 
rectly thereupon  began  to  be  a  man." 

Are  these  ideals  of  value  for  practical  success  ? 
Yes,  for  all  the  success  worth  striving  for  and  worth 
having.  Does  not  craft  succeed  better  than  hon- 
esty ?  Sometimes,  and  for  a  time,  but  honesty 
appears  to  be  even  the  best  policy,  and  it  is  the 
essential  stamp  of  real  manhood  and  womanhood. 
The  genuine  heroes  of  all  history  are  the  morally 
great.  Are  not  such  standards  too  high — imprac- 
tical ideals  for  the  pulpit  and  platform,  which  no 
one  is  expected  to  carry  into  real  life  ?  No  one  at- 
tains even  his  own  ideals,  much  less  the  absolute 
standards ;  but  they  are  the  steady  aim  of  a  fully 
successful  life. 

If  a  young  man  is  true  to  himself,  the  bounties  of 
nature,  the  good  will  of  others,  the  cooperation  of 
the  forces  of  right,  and  the  approval  of  God  are  his. 
The  world  waits  to  see  what  he  will  do  with  his 
powers  and  opportunities.  Much  is  expected  of 
him,  and  rightly.  The  state  which  has  helped  edu- 
cate him  expects  much ;  the  home  which  has  made 
sacrifices  for  him  expects  much.  Will  he  have  the 
courage  to  stand  by  his  ideals  ?  To  progress  must 
14 


210  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

be  part  of  his  religion.  When  the  oak  has  ceased 
to  put  forth  its  leaves  and  extend  its  branches,  it 
has  gone  into  hopeless  decay.  There  is  no  lasting 
happiness  but  in  action  and  ever  new  and  higher 
realizations. 

Longfellow  represents  early  manhood  turning  re- 
gretfully from  the  memory  visions  of  childhood  and 
youth  to  the  earnest  work  of  life. 

"  Visions  of  childhood  !  Stay,  O  stay  ! 

Ye  were  so  sweet  and  wild  ! 
And  distant  voices  seem  to  say, 
It  cannot  be  !  They  pass  away  ! 
Other  themes  demand  thy  lay  ; 

Thou  art  no  more  a  child  ! 

*'  The  land  of  Song  within  thee  lies, 

Watered  by  living  springs  ; 
The  lids  of  Fancy's  sleepless  eyes 
Are  gates  unto  that  Paradise, 
Holy  thoughts,  like  stars,  arise, 

Its  clouds  are  angel's  wings. 


Look,  then,  into  thine  heart,  and  write  ! 

Yes,  into  Life's  deep  stream  ! 
All  forms  of  sorrow  and  delight, 
All  solemn  Voices  of  the  Night, 
That  can  soothe  thee,  or  affright, — 

Be  these  henceforth  thy  theme." 


THE   STUDENT   AS  CITIZEN. 

Solomon,  in  the  fulness  of  his  wisdom  and  the 
maturity  of  his  moral  strength,  wrote  Proverbs.  In 
the  third  chapter  are  many  appeals  in  behalf  of 
ideal  manhood,  and  in  behalf  of  justice  and  mercy  in 
relations  with  one's  fellow  men.  He  exhorts  men 
to  depart  from  evil  and  hold  fast  to  truth.  He 
instructs  them  that  intellectual  and  moral  wisdom  is 
better  than  silver  and  gold  and  rubies ;  that  it  gives 
long  life,  riches,  power,  and  peace  of  mind.  The 
wise  shall  find  favor  in  sight  of  God  and  man.  Rev- 
erence for  God  contributes  to  worldly  success  and 
the  growth  of  character.  With  equal  force  he 
teaches  regard  for  the  rights  and  the  welfare  of 
others.  "  Devise  not  evil  against  thy  neighbor." 
**  Strive  not  with  a  man  without  a  cause."  '*  Choose 
not  the  ways  of  the  oppressor."  "  Withhold  not 
good  from  them  to  whom  it  is  due,  when  it  is  in  the 
power  of  thine  hand  to  do  it."  And  he  sums  up 
the  whole  matter  in  the  sentence :"  God  blesseth 
the  habitation  of  the  just." 

Men  sometimes  question  whether  ideals  and  Uto- 
pias have  any  practical  value.  Note  the  words  of 
Professor  Jowett,  penned  after  he  had  spent  years 
of  his  intense  life  in  translating  and  commenting 
upon  the  Dialogues  of  Plato — writings  which,  in 
broad  outlines,  represent  the  best  ideals  of  all  phi- 
losophy for  the  individual  and  for  society.     He  says : 


212  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

**  Human  life  and  conduct  are  affected  by  ideals  in 
the  same  way  that  they  are  affected  by  the  exam- 
ples of  eminent  men.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
is  immediately  applicable  to  practice,  but  there  is  a 
virtue  flowing  from  them  which  tends  to  raise  indi- 
viduals above  the  common  routine  of  society  or 
trade,  and  to  elevate  states  above  the  mere  interests 
of  commerce  or  the  necessities  of  self-defense.  Most 
men  live  in  a  corner,  and  see  but  a  little  way  beyond 
their  own  home  or  place  or  occupation ;  they  '  do 
not  lift  up  their  eyes  to  the  hills  ;  *  they  are  not 
awake  when  the  dawn  appears.  But  in  Plato,  as 
from  some  *  tower  of  speculation,'  we  look  into  the 
distance  and  behold  the  future  of  the  world  and  of 
philosophy.  The  ideal  of  the  state  and  of  the  life 
of  the  philosopher;  the  ideal  of  an  education  con- 
tinuing through  life  and  extending  equally  to  both 
sexes;  the  ideal  of  the  unity  and  correlation  of 
knowledge;  the  faith  in  good  and  immortality — are 
the  vacant  forms  of  light  on  which  Plato  is  seeking 
to  fix  the  eye  of  mankind." 

In  Plato's  Ideal  Republic  the  ruler  is  to  be  a 
man  of  wisdom  and  probity,  and  is  to  consider  only 
the  good  of  his  subjects.  **  Until  political  great- 
ness and  wisdom  meet  in  one,  cities  never  will  cease 
from  ill."  The  citizen  must  perfect  his  calling, 
however  humble,  as  an  artist  perfects  his  art,  and 
must  form  a  harmonious  and  useful  factor  in  the 
state.  States  must  be  organized  on  the  "  heav- 
enly," that  is,  the  ideal,  pattern.  After  developing 
the  understanding  of  justice  through  the  ten  books 
of  the  **  Republic,"  Socrates  concludes:  "  Need  we 
hire  a  herald,  or  shall  I  proclaim  the  result — that 
the  best  and  the  justest  man  is  also  the  happiest, 


THE   STUDENT  AS   CITIZEN. 


213 


and  that  this  is  he  who  is  the  most  royal  master  of 
himself;  and  that  the  worst  and  most  unjust  man 
is  also  the  most  miserable,  and  that  this  is  he  who 
is  the  greatest  tyrant  of  himself  and  of  his  state." 

The  good  citizen  is  described  in  Plato's  "  Laws" 
as  he  who  honors  his  own  soul,  obeys  the  laws, 
meets  the  just  demands  of  the  state  with  endur- 
ance; who  holds  virtue  above  all  other  good, 
teaches  children  reverence,  instead  of  bestowing 
upon  them  riches ;  who  sets  a  good  example,  holds 
a  contract  as  sacred,  aids  the  suffering;  who  is 
trusted  because  of  his  truthfulness,  does  no  injus- 
tice, exerts  good  influences,  is  ambitious  without 
envy ;  who  is  gentle,  forgives  the  penitent,  loves  not 
self  unduly;  who  is  cheerful  and  hopeful  in  misfor- 
tune; who  is  wise  and  moderate,  and  courageous 
in  spirit. 

Thus  the  wisdom  of  the  Greek  confirms  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Hebrew,  and,  were  we  to  trace  the  Chris- 
tian teachings  that  constitute  the  true  spirit  of  our 
modern  civilization,  we  should  find  these  same 
maxims,  wrought  out  with  fuller  understanding, 
given  a  richer  content  and  a  broader  application. 
The  good  citizen  is  he  who  is  true  to  his  best 
nature,  and  toward  others  is  just,  truthful,  merciful, 
and  helpful.  It  requires  no  new  philosophy  to  solve 
the  problems  of  society,  only  a  better  grasp  and  use 
of  the  old ;  for  the  germs  of  essential  truths  are  as 
old  as  man,  and  have  their  origin  in  the  mind  of  the 
Creator,  who  made  this  a  moral  world. 

Each  man,  as  a  part  of  the  universe,  is  subject  to 
the  universal  will  of  God  revealed  in  him ;  he, 
though  a  free  agent,  is  under  universal  law,  binding 


214  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

upon  him  as  sharing  in  the  common  brotherhood. 
Did  a  different  universe  walk  under  your  hat  and 
under  mine,  then  there  would  be  no  society,  no 
brotherhood,  no  individual  growth ;  so  far  as  a  man 
isolates  himself  in  selfishness  and  narrowness,  he  is 
detached  from  the  source  and  life  of  his  being,  and 
perishes  by  himself.  He  remains  undeveloped,  be- 
cause the  soul  comes  to  know  itself  only  by  reflec- 
tion in  the  mirror  of  kindred  natures.  The  state  is 
the  organization  that  brings  men  into  the  most  fa- 
vorable conditions  for  the  interplay  of  mind  upon 
mind  and  heart  upon  heart. 

As  a  part  of  the  whole,  each  man  must  have  his 
vocation.  Man  is  conditioned  by  the  needs  of  his 
physical  being.  He  is  compelled  to  make  requisi- 
tion on  the  fruitfulness  of  the  earth,  the  abundance 
of  the  sea,  and  all  the  forces  of  nature.  This  de- 
mand upon  his  energies  develops  his  intelligence  and 
creative  power.  By  serving  his  own  needs  he  also 
serves  others  and  contributes  to  a  material  ciWJiza- 
tion  favorable  to  soul  growth.  The  most  favorable 
material  conditions,  however,  are  only  the  scene  ior 
the  play  of  spiritual  forces,  and  on  this  scene  spme 
find  their  special  vocation  in  arousing  and  guiding 
mental  and  moral  activities.  He  who,  being  able, 
does  not  contribute  by  his  vocation  to  the  common 
good,  is  a  drain  upon  the  whole;  he  takes  without 
giving,  and  has  no  just  share  in  the  products  of 
earth,  the  protection  of  state,  or  the  favor  of  the 
Universal  Father. 

The  ideal  scholar  is  a  man  of  rich  thought  and 
feeling,  one  who  has  realized  much  of  his  possi- 
bility,   has   come   to  a   consciousness   of    universal 


THE   STUDENT  AS   CITIZEN. 


215 


truths.  He  has  variety,  breadth,  and  definiteness  of 
knowledge,  and,  hence,  is  able  more  wisely  to  play 
his  part  in  the  state.  He  is  the  conservator  and 
transmitter  of  the  thought  of  the  ages.  From  his 
acquaintance  with  the  past  he  may  interpret  the 
present.  By  his  own  activity  and  invention  he  may 
add  to  the  store  of  wisdom  and  the  progress  of  civili- 
zation. He  is  able  to  view  broadly  the  field  of  knowl- 
edge. He  should  judge  wisely  of  events,  and  be  able 
to  sift  useless  details  from  essential  truths.  Upon 
him  rests  the  responsibility  of  having  many  talents 
committed  to  his  charge ;  he  must  gain  other  talents. 
But  this  educated  power  is  not  to  be  merely  self- 
centred.  In  these  days  no  man  is  privileged  to 
live  an  unproductive  life.  The  development  of  his 
nature  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  powers  is  every 
man's  right;  but  mere  serene  pleasure  in  exalted 
thought  and  feeling,  as  sought  by  the  mediaeval 
recluse,  in  an  age  when  ideals  must  be  followed  by 
action,  when  utility  is  yoked  to  philosophy,  is  no 
longer  tolerable  in  scholar  or  saint.  The  world  de- 
mands the  best  expression  of  every  man's  best  abil- 
ity. The  educated  man  should  be  a  man  of  action 
and  influence.  If  he  chooses  literature,  he  must  give 
mankind  the  result  of  his  deepest  insight.  If  he 
chooses  science,  he  enters  a  vast  field,  and  the  world 
expects  of  the  trained  specialist  some  fresh  contri- 
bution to  knowledge  or  skillful  application  in  using 
the  forces  of  nature.  If  he  chooses  teaching,  he 
holds  his  only  valid  commission  from  the  wise  men 
of  all  ages.  He  is  a  mediator  between  the  whole 
world  of  intellectual  and  moral  wisdom  and  the 
needs  of  the  plastic  mind,  and  he  is  in  large  degree 
responsible  for  the  shape  it  assumes  and  its  beauty 


2l6  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

and  worth.  Young  minds  will  reflect  the  richness 
or  poverty  of  the  thought,  feeling,  and  life  of  the 
teacher.  College-trained  educators  have  a  greater 
responsibility  in  proportion  to  their  superior  advan- 
tages. In  whatever  field,  the  educated  man  must 
use  his  trained  powers  for  the  honor  of  his  calling. 

The  world  has  special  claims  upon  the  learned 
professions.  The  client  pays  for  the  honest  service 
of  the  advocate,  and,  to  the  full  limit  of  the  justice 
involved,  he  may  demand  the  best  effort  of  his  pa- 
tron. The  graduate  in  medicine  has  a  mission,  not 
alone  of  drugs  and  instruments,  but  of  ministering 
to  the  mind  diseased.  His  relations  call  for  the 
soul  of  honor  and  delicacy  and  secrecy.  The  nature 
of  his  profession  requires  the  most  devoted  service. 

This  demand  for  unselfish  public  service  from  the 
educated  has  not  merely  an  objective  significance. 
A  man's  full  growth  is,  in  a  large  measure,  dependent 
upon  the  effective  outward  expression  of  his  better 
self.  Man  finds  his  well-being  in  regard  for  the  well- 
being  of  others. 

There  are  times  when  the  popular  clamor  of  those 
who  see  only  the  near  event  must  be  resisted  by  the 
steady  courage  of  citizens  of  far-reaching  vision. 
One  such  man  may  see  a  truth  more  clearly  than  a 
thousand  of  average  judgment.  Plato  surpassed 
the  race  in  discovery  of  the  foundations  of  truth. 
Copernicus  penetrated  to  the  centre  of  the  solar 
system,  and,  there  taking  his  stand,  all  the  orbs 
moved  before  him  in  harmony.  Such  a  standpoint, 
amid  all  the  complexities  of  affairs,  is  always  to  be 
sought  by  men  of  deep  discernment. 

He  who  is  educated  by  society  or  by  the  state 


THE   STUDENT  AS  CITIZEN. 


217 


stands  under  a  peculiar  obligation.  The  state 
says :  I  offer  you  as  your  right  the  best  opportuni- 
ties for  your  development ;  I  provide  for  the  acqui- 
sition of  professional  and  mechanical  skill.  As  a 
human  being,  for  whom  I  am  responsible,  you  have 
a  claim  to  these  privileges  ;  but  I  give  them  also 
for  the  further  welfare  and  progress  of  the  whole, 
and  I  demand  that  you  use  your  opportunities  ap- 
preciatively and  wisely.  I  expect  you  to  conserve 
your  physical  being,  to  develop  your  powers,  to 
train  your  mind  for  service  and  your  heart  to  regard 
the  claims  of  society.  I  expect  no  dwarfed  and  dis- 
torted growth,  but  a  growth  that  has  expanded  in 
normal  beauty  and  strength.  The  state  has  trained 
you  that  you  may  be  an  active  factor  for  the  welfare 
and  glory  of  the  state — a  factor  that  shall  consider 
the  state's  problems,  shall  take  part  in  political 
affairs,  shall  occupy  honestly  positions  of  responsi- 
bility, shall  stand  for  the  right  and  raise  its  voice 
vigorously  for  every  just  cause,  shall  impart  of  its 
knowledge  and  professional  skill  in  proportion  to 
the  full  measure  that  has  been  received.  Good  to 
the  state  is  the  state's  due;  withhold  not  that  good 
when  it  is  in  the  power  of  your  hand  to  do  it.  If 
your  power  is  used  selfishly,  if  your  cunning  is  turned 
to  the  harm  of  your  foster  mother,  if  your  influence 
leads  men  aside  from  the  path  of  moral  progress,  I 
disown  you  as  unworthy  and  ungrateful,  and  uncon- 
scious of  your  obligations  as  a  man  and  a  citizen. 

The  name  of  a  country  stands  for  more  than  its 
territory,  people,  and  government.  It  represents  the 
principles  and  conditions  that  gave  it  birth,  the 
battles  in  defence  of  its  integrity  and  honor,  the 
civil  conflicts  for  the  triumph  of  the  best  elements. 


2l8  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

the  monuments  to  the  loyalty  and  sacrifice  of  its 
founders,  defenders,  and  preservers.  It  represents 
the  glory  of  its  heroes,  statesmen,  poets,  and  seers ; 
)  it  stands  for  the  peculiar  genius  and  mission  of  the 
people.  It  is  a  heritage  whose  glory  is  to  be  main- 
tained by  the  character,  wisdom,  and  devotion  of  all 
its  citizens. 

I  do  not  take  the  pessimistic  view  of  political  life. 
Men  in  places  of  responsibility  are  more  disposed 
toward  the  right  than  is  allowed  by  their  political 
opponents.  Respect  is  due  to  our  rulers,  and  a  man 
is  not  to  be  charged  with  wrong  motives  merely  be- 
cause his  judgment  is  not  in  accord  with  ours,  be- 
cause the  affairs  of  state  or  municipality  are  not 
perfectly  administered,  nor  because  of  the  exigen- 
cies of  party. 

That  there  is  much  to  condemn  in  political  con- 
duct is  also  true,  and  corruption,  whether  in  the 
primaries  or  the  Presidency,  is  most  potent  in  weak- 
ening the  integrity  of  ambitious  young  men.  The 
best  influences  of  church  and  school  hardly  serve  to 
offset  the  tendency  of  daily  contact  with  men  who 
have  no  ideal  standards  of  citizenship.  The  idea  of 
public  gain  without  commensurate  public  service  is 
a  most  insidious  tempter,  to  be  resisted  by  every 
instinct  of  true  manhood.  This  is  not  a  matter  of 
abstract  speculation,  but  a  practical  condition  here 
and  now,  and  one  that  every  educated  man  must 
face. 

You  recall  the  scene  of  Shakespeare,  where  Hot- 
spur on  the  field  of  battle,  **  breathless  and  weary  '* 
after  the  conflict,  encountered  a  certain  lord,  "  per- 
fumed like  a  milliner,"  holding  to  his  nose  a  pouncet- 


THE   STUDENT  AS  CITIZEN.  219 

box,  and  calling  the  soldiers,  who  bore  the  dead 
bodies  by,  untaught  knaves,  "  to  bring  a  slovenly, 
unhandsome  corse  betwixt  the  wind  and  his  nobil- 
ity." Hotspur  adds:  '*  It  made  me  mad  to  see 
him  shine  so  brisk,  and  smell  so  sweet,  .  .  .  and 
tell  me  but  for  these  vile  guns,  he  would  himself 
have  been  a  soldier."  I  mean  no  undue  disrespect 
to  educated  and  refined  gentlemen  who  stand  aloof 
from  the  political  field  because  it  smells  of  "  villain- 
ous saltpetre,"  and  is  altogether  too  dirty  and  dan- 
gerous for  their  respectability  and  ease.  The  intel- 
ligence of  the  nation  should  guide  the  nation,  and 
any  educated  man  who  stands  by  and  views  with 
indifference  or  timidity  the  struggle  for  the  triumph 
of  the  best  elements  of  society  and  the  best  princi- 
ples, deserves  the  objurgations  of  every  valiant 
Hotspur  in  the  land.  A  minister  recently  said: 
"  It  is  as  much  your  duty  to  attend  the  primaries  as 
the  prayer-meeting."  I  would  have  educated  young 
men  take  a  hand  in  every  contest  where  order  and 
justice  and  honesty  are  endangered;  I  would  have 
them  independently  take  a  stand  with  whatever 
party  or  faction,  at  a  given  time,  may  represent  the 
best  cause.  I  would  have  them  measure  public  ser- 
vice and  public  reward  by  the  strict  standard  of 
equity  ;  I  would  have  them  recognize  the  duty  of 
active  practical  citizenship. 

The  people  are  keen  to  detect  wrong  aims  in  po- 
litical life,  and  in  their  minds  they  speedily  relegate 
the  politician  who  shows  himself  unworthy  to  the 
plane  of  his  motives.  They  as  speedily  recognize 
probity  and  patriotism  and  devotion  to  the  common- 
wealth, and  the  truly  royal  men  in  public  life  are 
enshrined  in  their  hearts  and  are  made  an  example 


220  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

to  their  children.  The  majority  of  citizens  are  right 
in  their  feeling  and  purpose ;  their  fault  is  in  their 
apathy.  Edgar  W.  Nye,  the  genial  humorist, 
quaintly  expressed  a  deep  thought  when  he  said: 
**  To-day  there  is  not  a  crowned  head  on  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  that  does  not  recognize  this  great 
truth — viz. :  that  God  alone,  speaking  through  the 
united  voices  of  the  common  people,  declares  the 
rulings  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Universe."  In 
the  long  run  the  voice  of  all  the  people  is  just. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  literature  we  find  a  choice 
bit  of  truth  and  eloquence:  "  Of  Law  there  can  be 
no  less  acknowledged  than  that  her  seat  is  the 
Bosom  of  God;  her  voice  the  harmony  of  the 
world."  Moral  order  is  a  part  of  the  beneficent 
law  of  the  world  ;  only  by  conformity  to  it  can  an 
individual  or  a  nation  prosper.  If  ideals  of  truth 
and  right  are  existent  in  the  mind  of  the  Creator, 
are  implanted  in  human  nature  and  revealed  through 
society,  no  one  can  escape  from  their  authority. 
One  of  the  old  Sophists  declared  honesty  to  be 
"  sublime  simplicity,"  and  those  are  yet  found  who 
subscribe  to  the  creed.  The  life  that  is  controlled 
by  mere  prudence  is  likely  at  some  time  to  commit 
a  fatal  error.  That  State  is  sound  that  lives  under 
the  law  of  God,  that  regards  principles  of  right  and 
maintains  healthy  sentiment. 


OPTIMISM   AND    INTEREST. 

Not  long  ago  I  met  an  old  acquaintance,  and  by 
way  of  greeting  asked  how  affairs  were  with  him. 
**  All  right,"  he  replied;  "  business  is  looking  up; 
the  city  is  improving;  the  State  is  in  a  better  condi- 
tion ;  we  have  a  good  Legislature,  a  good  Governor; 
it  is  a  beautiful  day,  a  beautiful  world ;  everything 
is  all  right."  And  I  went  on  my  way,  meditating 
on  interest  and  optimism.  His  interest  in  life  was 
not  due  to  any  recent  stroke  of  good  fortune,  but 
was  habitual. 

The  optimist  is  your  best  philosopher.  He  adapts 
himself  to  the  world  and  uses  it.  He  selects  the 
best  that  life  offers,  and,  when  the  sky  is  gloomy, 
he  lives  in  hope  of  bright  days.  He  has  faith  in  the 
ultimate  beneficent  outcome  of  the  plan  of  the  Cre- 
ator. As  there  is  light  for  the  eye,  sound  for  the  ear, 
form  for  the  touch,  aromas  for  the  smell,  food  for 
the  taste,  so  there  is  an  object  in  the  outer  world, 
adapted  to  every  human  instinct  and  impulse.  The 
impulse  for  life  and  action,  the  desire  for  property, 
the  impulse  for  friendship,  the  impulses  of  wonder, 
aesthetic  admiration,  and  religious  worship — each  has 
its  objective  counterpart.  Man  is  adjusted  to  his  en- 
vironment, and  his  environment  includes  the  whole 
round  world  of  utility  and  sentiment.  Human  life 
is  perpetual  activity,  a  searching  for  objects  that 
will  meet  material  needs  and  conduce  to  spiritual 


222  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

development.  The  feeling  of  interest  arises  when 
the  mind  finds  the  object  of  its  search  or  feels  that 
it  is  on  the  right  track. 

Interest  is  the  condition  of  the  mind  that  makes 
?a  thing  of  value  to  us.  It  is  the  cry  of  Eureka  when 
a  fitting  discovery  is  made.  It  is  the  magnetic  rela- 
tion between  impulse  and  the  end  at  which  it  aims, 
between  man  and  the  outer  world,  between  man 
and  himself.  It  makes  life  worth  living,  and  is  the 
secret  of  activity  and  progress.  Inasmuch  as  inter- 
est shows  the  kind  of  objects  that  appeal  to  the 
mind,  it  is  a  revelation  of  character. 

The  objects .  which  a  man  may  cherish  are  limit- 
less. He  may  rejoice  in  his  strength,  his  personal 
adornment,  his  lands  and  money,  his  books  and 
works  of  art.  He  may  find  an  eager  interest  in  his 
own  image  as  pictured  in  the  minds  of  his  relatives, 
friends,  or  fellow  citizens.  He  may  take  pride  in 
family  or  in  personal  glory  and  honor.  Men  pose 
before  the  world ;  they  act  often  with  reference  to 
the  appreciation  they  will  receive.  It  is  told  that 
the  poet  Keats  could  not  live  without  applause. 
Carlyle  says  men  write  history,  not  with  supreme 
regard  for  facts,  but  for  the  writing.  Nero  con- 
ceived that  he  was  a  musician,  poet,  and  actor, 
surpassing  in  merit  the  geniuses  of  his  age. 

Man's  attitude  toward  wisdom  and  religion,  the 
quality  of  his  thoughts  and  feelings,  his  aspirations, 
constitute  his  spiritual  interest.  The  sentiments  of 
his  soul  are  his;  for  them  he  is  responsible,  and  in 
them  he  finds  satisfaction  or  humiliation. 

As  one  forgets  self  and  self-interest,  more  and 
more   he   makes   the   whole   world   his  possession. 


OPTIMISM  AND  INTEREST.  223 

Nature,  the  welfare  of  others,  man  in  history  and 
literature,  the  Maker  of  all,  may  become  objects  of 
regard.  A  French  nobleman  who  in  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  revolution  lost  his  estates  and  titles,  but 
received  a  small  pension  from  the  government, 
became  a  philosopher  and  had  the  world  at  his  com- 
mand. For  slight  pay,  willing  service  for  his  daily 
needs  was  his;  private  gardens,  public  parks,  the 
broad  landscape,  the  sky  were  his  to  enjoy,  and  he 
was  free  from  care  and  fear.  Some  interests  are 
universal,  not  the  heritage  and  possession  of  one, 
but,  like  sun  and  air,  free.  They  fall  '*  as  the  gentle 
rain  from  heaven  upon  the  place  beneath,"  and  bless 
him  that  receives.  Rich  in  experience  is  he  who 
can  see  in  the  drifted  gleaming  snows  on  our  moun- 
tain peaks  more  than  the  summer's  irrigation,  in  the 
green  plains  of  May  more  than  the  growing  crops  of 
wheat  and  alfalfa,  in  the  orchard  bloom  more  than 
the  promise  of  fruit,  in  public  education  and  charity 
more  than  political  and  social  prudence,  in  religious 
devotion  more  than  conventionality.  For  him 
blessings  come  on  the  morning  breeze,  gleam  from 
the  midnight  sky,  appear  in  the  quality  of  mercy, 
and  spring  from  communion  with  the  Soul  of  Nature. 

Prometheus  is  said  to  have  given  to  men  a  portion 
of  all  the  qualities  possessed  by  the  other  animals 
— the  lion,  the  monkey,  the  wolf — hence  the  many 
traits  that  are  manifest  in  his  complex  nature. 
There  is  a  slight  suggestion  of  evolution  in  this — 
that  man  is  but  the  highest  stage  of  animal  develop- 
ment, and  that  his  refined  emotions  are  but  the 
instincts  of  the  lower  orders  modified  by  complex 
groupings.     We  grant  the  process,  but  not  necessa- 


224 


EDUCATION  AND   LIFE. 


rily  the  inference.  An  apple  is  none  the  less  an 
apple  because  it  is  the  product  of  an  unbroken  de- 
velopment from  a  germ  and  simple  shoot.  The 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  need  be  none  the  less  valid 
because  it  is  a  late  phase  of  some  simple  instinct. 
We  believe  the  world  was  fashioned  according  to  an 
intelligent  plan,  a  plan  gradually  realized,  and  that 
its  meaning  is  found,  not  in  the  lower,  but  in  the 
higher  stages  of  development.  We  explain  the  pur- 
pose of  creation,  not  by  the  first  struggle  of  a  pro- 
tozoan for  food,  but  by  the  last  aspiration  of  man 
for  heaven. 

*'  From  harmony,  from  heavenly  harmony, 

This  universal  frame  began  : 

From  harmony  to  harmony 
Through  all  the  compass  of  the  notes  it  ran, 
The  diapason  closing  full  in  Man." 

The  latest  science  hesitates  to  question  the  valid- 
ity of  our  higher  emotional  life.  It  is  becoming 
antiquated  to  say  that,  because  we  are  descended 
from  animals,  our  sense  of  duty,  our  feelings  of  faith 
and  reverence  have  no  more  significance  than  the 
animal  instincts  from  which  they  may  have  devel- 
oped. There  they  are  in  all  their  refinement,  need, 
and  suggestiveness,  and,  as  such,  are  a  proper  ground 
of  belief.  A  late  philosophical  evolutionist  says  it 
is  useless  to  theorize  about  our  impulse  to  pray,  its 
use  or  futility — we  pray  because  we  cannot  help 
praying.  Evolution  is  undergoing  the  test  of  the 
last  stage  of  a  scientific  process — in  this  instance 
that  of  fitness  to  explain  the  facts  of  man's  nature. 
It  may  not  escape  the  test  by  denying  the  facts. 

Pardon  the  seeming  digression,  but  the  reasonable- 
ness of  our  faith  is  the  ground  of  interest.     Interest 


OPTIMISM  AND  INTEREST. 


225 


vanishes  with  the  genuineness  of  our  supposed 
treasure.  We  do  not  like  to  handle  counterfeit 
coin ;  we  do  not  value  antiquities  and  sacred  relics 
of  modern  manufacture,  or  mementos  that  no  longer 
represent  cherished  memories.  Much  that  stimu- 
lates the  higher  life  would  perish  did  we  doubt  the 
truth  of  our  nature ;  the  glory  of  the  world  would 
depart  were  the  soul  lost  out  of  it. 

Some  interests  have  sacred  claims  above  others; 
there  is  a  hierarchy  amongst  our  impulses.  Analyze 
the  fact  as  we  way,  duty  still  remains.  Moral  laws 
and  their  practical  application  are  progressively  re- 
vealed by  the  relations  of  men  in  society.  We  may 
believe  the  laws  are  there  in  the  nature  of  things, 
but  that  our  discovery  of  them  is  gradual,  as  is  the 
discovery  of  the  unchanging  laws  of  physics.  The 
moral  problem  is  the  old  one  of  the  struggle  between 
light  and  darkness,  between  good  and  evil,  between 
duty  and  pleasure — the  problem  of  responsibility, 
character,  and  destiny.  In  its  modern  form  it  is  the 
problem  of  utility,  that  is,  of  life  and  happiness. 
But  utilitarianism  includes,  and  ever  must  include, 
the  happiness  that  comes  from  the  exercise  of  the 
higher  spiritual  functions,  from  the  sense  of  duty 
performed,  and  from  belief  in  divine  approbation. 

Interests  chosen  and  pursued  reveal  the  character. 
Men  do  not  gather  grapes  of  thorns  nor  figs  of 
thistles.  "  A  good  tree  can  not  bring  forth  evil 
fruit;  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good 
fruit."  The  outward  act  is  but  the  visible  expres- 
sion of  the  inner  life. 

There  is  something  more  than  a  pleasing  myth  in 
the  Greek  conception  of  choosing  the  lot  of  life. 
15 


226  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

Every  responsible  act  of  free  will  is  gradually  fixing 
our  destiny.  The  conduct  of  life  is  not  a  series  of 
skirmishes  with  fate;  it  is  fate  itself,  and  a  thing 
largely  of  our  own  creation.  We  are  constructing 
the  future  out  of  the  present.  For  the  goal  that  we 
may  finally  reach  we  are  even  now  running  the  race, 
the  direction  is  already  chosen,  and,  if  we  find  our- 
selves on  the  wrong  road,  time  is  already  lost. 

Times  change,  science  brings  in  new  conceptions, 
superstitions  vanish,  beliefs  are  modified,  new  con- 
ditions and  duties  arise.  But  as  the  scenes  shift  and 
new  actors  come  on  the  stage,  the  themes  are  still 
human  history,  comedy,  and  tragedy.  The  argu- 
ment of  the  play  is  still  the  triumph  of  heroism  and 
the  reward  of  virtue.  The  spectators  still  smile  at 
innocent  pleasures,  weep  with  misfortune,  and  ap- 
plaud sentiment  and  worth,  and  the  orchestra  still 
plays  the  triumph  or  the  dirge  as  the  curtain  falls 
on  the  final  scene.  The  ideals  of  the  saints,  the 
courage  of  heroes,  the  sufferings  of  martyrs  still 
teach  their  lesson.  Reverence  for  God,  justice, 
benevolence,  the  ethical  worth  of  the  individual  are 
still  dominant  ideas. 

If  our  ideals  are  less  severe,  they  are  more  prac- 
tical ;  if  our  heroism  is  less  phenomenal,  it  takes  on 
new  forms  or  is  reserved  for  imperative  need;  if 
we  shrink  from  martyrdom,  it  may  be  because  mar- 
tyrdom is  sometimes  folly;  if  we  worship  with  less 
zeal,  we  are  more  conscious  of  the  rational  grounds 
of  worship.  Our  justice  and  benevolence  have  be- 
come more  useful  and  practical,  and  reach  all  men. 
The  problems  of  physical  comfort  and  material 
progress,  of  practical  charity,  of  political  justice, 
of  social  purity,  of  the  rights  of  all  classes  of  men,  of 


OPTIMISM  AND  INTEREST. 


227 


education,  of  peace  and  good  will,  of  the  true  grounds 
of  religious  faith  are  at  the  front,  and  claim  our  in- 
terest and  devotion.  Romance  is  not  dead.  The 
modern  hero  has  his  opportunity,  an  opportunity 
open  as  never  before  to  all  kinds  and  conditions  of 
men.  Every  educated  young  man  has  an  unlimited 
field,  a  free  lance,  and  a  cause  worthy  of  his  valor. 
Let  him  go  forth,  as  an  ideal  knight  of  old,  pure  in 
heart  and  life,  with  consecrated  sword,  to  aid  mis- 
fortune, to  defend  the  people,  and  fight  bravely  for 
truth  and  right. 

I  have  seen  young  men  going  about,  dallying  with 
this  or  that  pleasure,  physically  lazy,  mentally  indo- 
lent, morally  indifferent,  burdened  with  ennui,  aim- 
less, making  no  struggle.  Will  power  must  be 
awakened,  life  given  to  the  mechanism,  or  it  will  go 
to  rust  and  decay.  While  there  is  hope  there  is 
life.  When  interest  is  gone,  the  mind  and  spirit  are 
dead,  and  the  body  is  dying.  What  a  hopeless  lump 
of  clay  is  he  who,  standing  in  this  infinitely  glorious 
world  of  ours  and  having  eyes  sees  not,  having  ears 
hears  not,  and  having  a  heart  understands  not. 

What  shall  men  do  who  have  not  come  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  their  better  impulses,  to  whom  the 
number  and  worth  of  human  possibilities  are  un- 
known, who  have  hidden,  silent  chords,  awaiting 
the  touch  that  will  set  them  vibrating  ?  Plainly  by 
studying  the  highest  types  of  men,  the  complete- 
ness of  whose  inner  life  is  revealed  in  their  deeds  and 
thoughts.  By  contact  with  a  better  than  himself  one 
comes  to  know  his  better  self.  Under  the  influence 
of  great  companionship,  whether  in  life  or  literature, 
new  conceptions  may  appear  in  the  vacant  soul. 


228  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

A  popular  work  of  fiction  lately  published  shows 
incidentally  how  great  conceptions  may  grow  in  a 
foreign  and  incongenial  soil.  It  treats  of  the  times 
of  Nero  and  the  early  struggles  of  the  Christians  in 
Rome.  Amidst  that  folly,  profligacy,  debauchery, 
strife,  and  cruelty,  the  Christian  purity,  humility, 
brotherly  love,  and  faith  in  God  are  made  to  stand 
forth  in  world-wide  contrast.  Through  a  series  of 
dramatic  events,  possessing  for  him  a  powerful  in- 
terest, a  Roman  patrician  comes  to  receive  the 
Christian  ideas,  and,  under  the  nurture  of  interest, 
they  gradually  wax  strong  and  become  the  domi- 
nant impulses  of  his  being.  A  fellow  patrician, 
maintaining  a  persistent  attitude  of  indifference  to 
the  new  truths,  lives  and  dies,  to  the  last  a  degen- 
erate Roman  and  a  Stoic. 

A  remote  interest  whose  attainment  is  doubtful 
may  come  to  wholly  possess  the  mind.  A  young 
man,  misunderstood  and  underestimated  by  friends, 
suffering  years  of  unrequited  effort,  persevering  in 
silent  determination,  standing  for  the  right,  making 
friends  with  all  classes,  seizing  strongly  the  given 
opportunity,  defying  popularity,  and  thereby  win- 
ning it,  may  gradually  rise  to  prominence  through 
long  years  of  focusing  of  effort. 

Man's  free  will  makes  him  responsible  for  his  in- 
terests. Aristotle's  dictum  comes  down  to  us  in  an 
unbroken  line  of  royal  descent:  Learn  to  find  inter- 
est in  right  things.  Repugnance  to  the  sternest 
demands  of  duty  may  be  converted  into  liking,  and, 
in  the  process,  character  is  made.  If  you  have  a 
need  for  mathematics,  science,  history,  poetry,  or 
philanthropy,  cultivate  it,  and  interest  will  come  as 
a  benediction  upon  the  effort.     I  sometimes  think 


OPTIMISM  AND  INTEREST. 


229 


the  gods  love  those  who  in  youth  are  compelled  to 
walk  in  hard  paths.  Rudyard  Kipling  has  a  trace  of 
imperialism  which  is  not  the  least  valuable  feature 
of  his  unique  writings.  In  a  late  story  he  describes 
the  transformation  of  a  son  of  wealth  who  is  already 
far  on  the  road  to  folly — one  of  those  nervous,  high- 
strung  lads  who  in  the  face  of  hardship  hides  behind 
his  mother,  and  is  a  particular  nuisance  to  all  sen- 
sitive people.  Crossing  the  ocean  in  a  palatial 
steamer,  he  chances  to  roll  off  into  the  Atlantic  and 
is  conveniently  hauled  aboard  a  fishing  schooner, 
out  for  a  three  months'  trip.  He  has  literally 
tumbled  into  a  new  life,  where  he  is  duly  whipped 
into  a  proper  frame  of  mind  and  made  to  earn  his 
passage  and  a  small  wage,  by  sharing  the  hardships 
of  the  fishermen.  In  time  he  is  returned  to  his 
parents,  together  with  a  bonus  of  newly  acquired 
common  sense  and  love  for  useful  work.  Hardship 
did  for  him  what  all  his  father's  wealth  could  not 
buy. 

It  is  in  the  time  of  need  that  men  seek  ultimate 
reality.  A  scientific  writer,  after  speaking  of  our 
interest  in  the  friendship  and  appreciation  of  men,  re- 
fers to  our  need  of  friendship  and  appreciation  in  our 
time  of  stern  trial,  when  we  stand  alone  in  the  per- 
formance of  duty.  Then  we  have  an  intuitive  con- 
sciousness of  a  Being  supremely  just  and  apprecia- 
tive, who  recognizes  worth  at  its  exact  value,  and 
will  duly  reward.  We  feel  that  in  Him  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being.  The  finite  conditions  of 
life  drive  us  to  the  thought  of  an  infinite  One,  who 
possesses  in  their  fullness  the  ideals  imperfectly 
realized  in  us.  When  the  world  swings  from  under 
our  feet  we  need  a  hold  on  heaven.     In  these  mod- 

OF    THK  r 

UNIVERSITY 


230 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


ern  days  we  need  the  spirit  of  the  hero  who  places 
honor  above  life,  the  spirit  that  places  character 
above  material  advantage.  Without  it  we  are  like 
Falstaff,  going  about  asking  "  What  is  honor  ?  "  and 
complaining  because  it  "  hath  no  skill  in  surgery.*' 
Balzac,  describing  one  of  his  human  types,  paints  a 
striking  picture.  A  miser  is  on  his  death  bed.  As 
the  supreme  moment  approaches,  and  a  golden  cru- 
cifix is  held  before  his  face,  he  fixes  his  glazing  eyes 
upon  it  with  a  look  of  miserly  greed,  and,  with  a 
final  effort  of  his  palsied  hand,  attempts  to  grasp  it. 
He  takes  with  him  to  the  other  world  in  his  soul  the 
gold,  not  the  Christ  crucified. 

There  are  people  who  demand  a  series  of  ever 
varied,  thrilling,  fully  satisfying  emotional  experi- 
ences. For  them  **  the  higher  life  consists  in  a  sort 
of  enthusiastic  fickleness.  The  genius  must  wander 
like  a  humming-bird  in  the  garden  of  divine  emo- 
tions." When  they  do  not  save  themselves  by  de- 
votion to  scholarly  work  or  by  refuge  in  the  church, 
they  frequently  end  in  pessimism,  madness,  or  sui- 
cide. They  exalt  the  Ego,  do  not  lose  self  in  the 
pursuit  of  proper  objects  of  utility.  Nordau  has 
done  the  world  one  service  in  branding  them  as  de- 
generates, living  in  abnormal  excitement,  instead  of 
employing  the  calm,  strong,  balanced  use  of  their 
powers.  Their  fate  is  fittingly  suggested  by  a  choice 
sentence  from  a  well-known  writer,  describing 
Byron's  **  Don  Juan  "  :  '*  It  is  a  mountain  stream, 
plunging  down  dreadful  chasms,  singing  through 
grand  forests,  and  losing  itself  in  a  lifeless  gray 
alkali  desert."  Goethe's  Faust  sets  forth — be  it 
noted,    under  the   guidance   of   the  devil — to   find 


OPTIMISM  AND  INTEREST. 


231 


complete  enjoyment,  and  tries  the  whole  round  of 
experience.  Everything  palls  upon  him,  until  he 
at  last  finds  permanent  satisfaction  in  earnest  prac- 
tical labor  for  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men.  In  the 
words  of  Faust : 

"  He  only  earns  his  freedom  and  existence 
Who  daily  conquers  them  anew." 

Labor!  It  is  the  secret  of  happiness.  We  are 
born  bundles  of  self-activity,  in  infancy  ever  devel- 
oping our  powers  by  ceaseless  movement,  with 
eager  curiosity  ever  reaching  out  toward  knowledge 
of  external  things,  ever  laboring  and  constructing  in 
imitation  of  the  great,  working  world.  Unless  our 
energies  are  wasted  by  folly  and  our  hearts  are 
chilled  by  custom,  it  is  the  natural  condition,  even 
as  children,  older  and  wiser,  but  still  as  children, 
ever  to  extend  with  enthusiasm  the  boundary  of 
knowledge,  and  in  reality  to  join  in  the  labor  which 
was  the  play-work  of  our  childhood.  And  when 
our  effort  overcomes,  creates,  develops  power,  aids 
humanity,  we  are  conscious  of  the  joy  of  true 
living.  In  our  work  self  must  be  put  in  the  back- 
ground. "  He  that  loseth  his  life  shall  find  it." 
The  great  Goethe,  once  weighed  down  with  a  mighty 
sorrow,  forgot  his  grief  in  the  study  of  a  new  and 
difficult  science. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  interest  and  hap- 
piness may  not  attach  to  duty.  Duty  is  not  a  dead, 
barren  plant  that  no  more  will  put  forth  green 
leaves  and  blossom.  Philanthropists  do  not  need 
our  sympathy.  A  man  of  learning,  culture,  and 
ability,  capable  of  enjoying  keenly  the  amenities  of 
civilization,  and  of  winning  worldly  success,  goes  on 


^32 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 


a  mission  to  the  interior  of  Darkest  Africa.  Amid 
hardships  and  dangers,  he  offers  his  life  to  help  an 
alien  race  in  its  suffering,  ignorance,  and  savagery. 
He  makes  this  devotion  his  supreme  interest,  and 
who  shall  say  that  his  satisfaction  will  not  be  as 
great  as  that  of  the  most  favored  son  of  wealth  amid 
the  luxuries  of  civilization  ?  "  He  that  goeth  forth 
and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless 
come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with 
him." 

One  great  purpose  of  education  is  to  increase  and 
strengthen  our  interests.  It  shows  the  many  fields 
of  labor  and  gives  us  power  to  work  therein ;  it  re- 
veals the  laws  and  beauties  of  the  natural  world ;  it 
introduces  us  to  many  lands  and  peoples,  and  ac- 
quaints us  with  the  problems  and  means  of  progress; 
it  opens  to  us  the  treasury  of  man's  best  thoughts; 
it  gives  us  philosophical  and  poetic  insight. 

Sydney  Smith,  indulging  one  of  his  quaint  con- 
ceits, says:  "  If  you  choose  to  represent  the  various 
parts  in  life  by  holes  upon  a  table,  of  different 
shapes — some  circular,  some  triangular,  some  square, 
some  oblong — and  the  persons  acting  these  parts  by 
bits  of  wood  of  similar  shapes,  we  shall  generally 
find  that  the  triangular  person  has  got  into  the 
square  hole,  the  oblong  into  the  triangular,  and  a 
square  person  has  squeezed  himself  into  the  round 
hole."  This  fancy  has  some  truth,  but  more  of 
nonsense.  **  Men  at  some  time  are  masters  of  their 
fates."  Create  your  place  in  life  and  fill  it,  or  adapt 
yourself  to  the  best  place  you  can  find.  The  choice 
of  occupation  is  important,  but  filling  well  the  pro- 
fession   chosen   is    more    important.      Turn    your 


OPTIMISM  AND  INTEREST. 


^Zl 


knowledge  and  power  to  the  performance  of  to- 
day's duty, 

Lowell  in  his  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal "  imparts 
one  of  the  sweetest  lessons  man  may  learn.  Sir 
Launfal  is  to  set  forth  on  the  morrow  in  search  of 
the  Holy  Grail,  the  cup  used  by  our  Saviour  at  the 
last  supper,  and  in  his  sleep  there  comes  to  him  a 
true  vision.  As  in  his  dream  he  rides  forth  with 
pride  of  heart,  at  his  castle  gate  a  leper  begs  alms, 
and  in  scorn  he  tosses  him  a  piece  of  gold.  Years 
of  fruitless  search  pass,  and  as  he  returns  old, 
broken,  poor,  and  homeless,  he  again  meets  the 
leper  at  the  castle  gate,  and  in  Christ's  name  he 
offers  a  cup  of  water.  And  lo!  the  leper  stands 
forth  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  proclaims  the  Holy 
Grail  is  found  in  the  wooden  cup  shared  with  com- 
munion of  heart.  The  morn  came  and  Sir  Launfal 
hung  up  his  idle  armor.  He  had  found  the  object 
of  his  quest  in  the  humble  duty  at  hand. 

A  poet  of  our  day  quaintly  but  not  irreverently 
writes  of  the  future  life,  "When  the  Master  of  all 
Good  Workmen  shall  set  us  to  work  anew."  There 
we  shall  work  for  the  joy  of  it ;  there  we  shall  know 
things  in  their  reality ;  there  we  shall  enjoy  the  per- 
fect appreciation  of  the  Master,  and  know  the  bless- 
edness of  labor  performed  in  His  service.  Thus  the 
lesson  is  good  for  this  world  as  well  as  the  next. 

**  And  only  the  Master  shall  praise  us,  and  only  the  Master  shall 

blame  ; 
And  no  one  shall  work  for  money,  and  no  one  shall  work  for  fame  ; 
But  each  for  the  joy  of  the  working,  and  each,  in  his  separate  star. 
Shall  draw  the  Thing  as  he  sees  It  for  the  God  of  Things  as  They 

Are." 


THE    ETHICAL    AND    ESTHETIC    ELE- 
MENTS   IN    EDUCATION. 

A  HISTORIC  sentiment  is  associated  with  the 
laurel  tree,  sacred  to  Apollo ;  with  the  laurel  wreath 
which  crowned  the  victor  in  the  Pythian  games, 
was  the  emblem  of  the  poet,  rested  upon  the  heads 
of  victorious  generals,  later  indicated  academic 
honors,  and  has  become  a  figure  of  speech  and  a 
gem  in  poetic  literature.  The  Baccalaureate  Day — 
the  day  when  victors  in  the  endeavor  to  reach 
the  graduate's  goal  figuratively  are  crowned  with 
the  fruited  laurel — we  would  preserve.  We  would 
preserve  it  for  its  history,  its  significance,  its  associ- 
ations, its  sentiments,  its  memories,  its  promise, 
and  its  religious  suggestion.  We  would  pre- 
serve it,  not  only  to  celebrate  scholastic  honors 
already  won,  but  as  a  fitting  occasion  to  consider 
some  of  those  deeper  lessons  whose  meaning 
will  appear  through  experience  in  the  School  of 
Life. 

Higher  education  ever  enlarges  the  borders  of 
science  and  leads  forth  into  new  fields.  It  trans- 
mutes superstition  into  knowledge.  It  is  the  spirit 
of  civilization  and  the  leader  of  progress.  It  stands 
at  the  summit  of  human  development,  represents 
the  aggregate  of  human  knowledge,  is  the  goal  for 


ETHICAL   AND  ^ESTHETIC  ELEMENTS. 


235 


intellectual  endeavor,  and  it  points  the  way  for  the 
discovery  and  progress  of  the  future. 

There  was  a  time  when  many  scholars  turned  the 
pages  of  literature, in  which  were  preserved  the  deeds, 
investigations,  and  thoughtsx)f  men,  solely  that  they 
might  develop  and  enjoy  their  own  powers;  when 
they  devoted  themselves  to  Truth  for  its  own  sake ; 
when  they  stood  isolated,  as  in  a  world  of  their  own, 
considering  naught  but  their  own  welfare  and,  per- 
haps, their  relation  to  their  Maker.  Men  dwelt  in 
caves,  in  remote  deserts,  or  within  gloomy  walls  to 
dwarf  the  bodily  and  worldly  impulses  and  to  rise 
to  a  serene  contemplation  of  God  and  His  truths, 
disregarding  the  appeal  of  ignorant  or  suffering  hu- 
manity and  the  duty  of  adding  works  to  faith. 

Our  relations  to  our  fellow-men  give  rise  to  nearly 
the  entire  Ethical  Code.  Society  cares  for  us,  edu- 
cates us,  develops  us,  and  it  has  claims  upon  us, 
not  on  purely  selfish  or  utilitarian  grounds,  but 
under  a  higher  ethical  idea,  whose  sanction  is  the 
perfection  and  will  of  God.  The  law  of  God  re- 
quires effort  for  humanity,  government  enjoins  it, 
charity  demands  it.  The  Associationist,  the  Utili- 
tarian, and  the  Evolutionist  teach  it. 

An  honorable  character  and  a  useful  life  are  full 
of  influence.  And  there  are  hundreds  of  ways,  in 
some  of  which,  without  burdensome  effort,  one  may 
be  a  blessing  to  others.  Ignorance  may  be  awak- 
ened to  its  condition,  vice  may  be  shamed,  sorrow 
may  be  assuaged,  fear  may  be  changed  into  hope, 
sloth  may  be  aroused  to  action,  doubt  may  be  con- 
verted into  faith. 

Go  forth  and  join  in  the  labor  you  are  fitted  for. 
If  you  have  a  truth,  utter  it ;  if  you  have  had  supe- 


236  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

rior  privileges,  impart  to  others;  if  you  have  an 
insight  into  principles  of  conduct,  stand  for  them ; 
if  you  have  a  trained  eye  and  a  deft  hand,  use  your 
skill.  Externalize  the  powers  of  your  being;  find 
outward  expression  for  your  inward  thought. 

Thank  God  for  a  courageous  man,  a  true  Anglo- 
Saxon  man,  a  man  whose  convictions  are  deeply 
rooted,  and  who  guards  them  as  his  very  life. 
Heroes,  philanthropists,  and  martyrs  are  his  exem- 
plars. He  has  a  work  to  do,  and  he  enters  upon  it 
as  his  fathers  battled  for  the  right.  The  sensualist, 
the  dreamer,  and  the  fatalist  lie  supine,  are  lulled  by 
the  summer  breeze,  and  gaze  upon  the  drifting  pan- 
orama of  clouds  with  playful  imagination.  The 
man  of  duty  marches  forth  and  takes  the  fixed  stars 
for  his  guide. 

The  educated  young  man  of  to-day  has  every 
reason  to  thank  the  stars  under  which  he  was  born. 
Behind  him  is  the  teaching  of  the  civilized  world — 
the  poetry  and  art  of  Greece,  the  laws  and  institu- 
tions of  Rome,  the  growth  of  Christianity,  the  Medi- 
aeval commingling  of  forces  and  evolution  of  rare 
products,  the  Renaissance,  the  religious  and  polit- 
ical emancipation,  invention,  science,  art,  poetry, 
and  philosophy.  Behind  him  is  the  history  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  its  courage  and  deeds  of  valor, 
its  profound  earnestness,  its  stern  ideals.  Behind 
him  is  Puritan  New  England  and  liberty.  Around 
him  lies  the  new  land  of  promise  with  its  natural 
blessings  of  air,  sun,  mountains,  and  plains,  with  its 
mineral  wealth  and  industrial  possibility,  with  its 
people  of  pride,  energy,  inteUigence,  and  high  enthu- 
siasm. Before  him  lie  the  development  of  a  great 
and  unique  civilization,  a  wonder  of  material  prog- 


ETHICAL   AND  ^ESTHETIC  ELEMENTS. 


237 


ress,  a  rare  growth  of  poetic  power  and  free  spirit 
under  new  and  fostering  conditions.  Before  the 
youth  of  this  State  is  the  possibility  of  success  in 
any  pursuit,  of  rise  to  influence,  of  contributing 
to  the  formative  period  of  a  new  commonwealth. 
There  is  every  inducement  to  be  a  courageous,  en- 
ergetic, and  ideal  man.  Those  who  have  made  our 
history,  most  of  them,  are  still  living,  but  their 
work  is  nearly  accomplished,  and  you  will  take  up 
the  responsibility.  May  our  great  system  of  public 
instruction  contribute  to  fill  the  State  in  coming 
decades  with  noble  men  and  women  who  are  not 
afraid  of  ideals. 

Man  may  deceive  others,  but  is  shamed  at  the 
tribunal  of  his  own  better  judgment.  A  celebrated 
lecturer  describes  what  he  calls  the  "  Laughter  of 
the  Soul  at  Itself,"  **  a  laughter  that  it  rarely  hears 
more  than  once  without  hearing  it  forever."  He 
says:  **  You  would  call  me  a  partisan  if  I  were  to 
describe  an  internal  burst  of  laughter  of  conscience 
at  the  soul.  Therefore  let  Shakespeare,  let  Richter, 
let  Victor  Hugo,  let  cool  secular  history  put  before 
us  the  facts  of  human  nature."  We  may  refer  to 
one  illustration :  Jean  Valjean,  one  of  Hugo's  char- 
acters, an  escaped  and  reformed  convict,  was  about 
to  see  an  innocent  man  condemned  for  his  own  act, 
through  mistaken  identity.  He  tried  to  make  him- 
self believe  self-preservation  was  justifiable,  and  as 
the  mental  struggle  between  Self  and  Duty  went  on 
he  seemed  to  hear  a  voice:  "  Make  yourself  a  mask 
if  you  please;  but,  although  man  sees  your  mask, 
God  will  see  your  face;  although  your  neighbors  see 
your  life,  God  will  see  your  conscience."   And  again 


238  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE, 

came  the  internal  burst  of  laughter.  The  author 
proceeds:  **  Valjean  finally  confessed  his  identity; 
and  the  court  and  audience,  when  he  uttered  the 
words,  '  I  am  Jean  Valjean,'  '  felt  dazzled  in  their 
hearts,  and  that  a  great  light  was  shining  before 
them.'  " 

Science  does  away  with  superstition  and  many  an 
error,  it  makes  known  the  laws  of  nature,  it  applies 
them  to  practical  ends,  it  is  the  handmaid  of  civili- 
zation, it  emphasizes  the  welfare  of  humanity,  it 
shows  the  working  of  the  mechanism  within  the  field 
of  demonstrative  knowledge,  the  finite,  knowable 
land  of  the  real.  Science  exceeds  its  purpose  only 
whenever  it  proclaims  that  there  is  no  field  of  spirit- 
ual knowledge,  glimpses  of  which  may  be  seen  by 
souls  that  dwell  upon  the  heights.  Some  would 
measure  the  earth  with  a  carpenter's  rule,  forgetting 
Him  "  Who  hath  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow 
of  His  hand,  and  meted  out  Heaven  with  the  span, 
and  comprehended  the  dust  of  the  earth  in  a  meas- 
ure, and  weighed  the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the 
hills  in  a  balance." 

Carlyle  says:  "  Religion  in  most  countries  is  no 
longer  what  it  was,  and  should  be — a  thousand- 
voiced  psalm  from  the  heart  of  man  to  the  invisible 
Father,  the  fountain  of  all  goodness,  beauty,  truth, 
and  revealed  in  every  revelation  of  these ;  but  for 
the  most  part  a  wise,  prudential  feeling,  grounded 
on  mere  calculation,  a  matter,  as  all  others  now  are, 
of  expediency  and  utility;  whereby  some  smaller 
quantum  of  earthly  enjoyment  may  be  exchanged 
for  a  larger  quantum  of  celestial  enjoyment."  But 
again  and  more  truly  he  says:  **  Religion  cannot 


ETHICAL   AND  ESTHETIC  ELEMENTS. 


239 


pass  away.  The  burning  of  a  little  straw  may  hide 
the  stars  of  the  sky,  but  the  stars  are  there  and  will 
reappear. 

Once  a  pupil  asked  to  be  excused  from  exercises 
in  which  choice  extracts  from  the  Bible  were  some- 
times read,  simply  because  they  were  from  the  Bible ; 
but  he  listened  with  pleasure  to  good  thoughts  from 
other  books,  though  these  books  contained  many  a 
palpable  error.  Aside  from  the  view  which  makes 
the  Bible  the  Sacred  Book  of  the  Christian  believer, 
he  had  not  thought  of  its  value  to  a  large  portion  of 
the  human  race.  He  had  not  regarded  it  in  the  light 
of  history  and  philosophy.  The  ideals  for  which 
the  Hebrew  race  has  stood,  the  wonderful  prophe- 
cies of  great  and  far-seeing  men,  the  grand  poems 
of  faith  and  promise,  the  words  of  condensed  wis- 
dom, the  maxims  for  right  living,  the  Beatitudes, 
the  teaching  of  the  Parables,  the  spirit  of  adora- 
tion, the  moral  code,  the  allegorical  wisdom  never 
had  been  contemplated  apart  from  the  religious 
view,  against  which  he  had  imbibed  a  prejudice. 

Permit  me  to  speak  from  the  standpoint  of  his- 
tory and  philosophy.  The  Christian  religion  is  a 
chief  source  of  our  peculiar  civilization,  of  the  char- 
acter of  our  institutions,  of  the  growth  of  altruism, 
of  the  equality  of  man,  of  the  supreme  worth  of  the 
inner  motive,  of  charity,  of  liberty.  It  has  given 
the  world  the  highest  examples  of  pure  and  devoted 
lives. 

I  have  a  friend  who  is  struck  with  the  tale  of  how 
Buddha,  wearing  a  Brahman's  form,  when  "  drought 
withered  all  the  land,"  encountered  a  starving 
tigress  with  her  cubs,  and,  in  the  unbounded  pity  of 
his  heart,  offered  himself  a  sacrifice  to  their  hunger. 


240 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


He  says:  **  Here  is  a  beautiful  religion  for  me." 
And  yet  he  is  not  touched  by  the  story  of  a  Saviour 
who  carried  the  burden  of  the  pains  and  sorrows  of 
many  and  died  that  they  might  live. 

Disregard  no  good,  wherever  found.  The  human 
race  must  have  its  ideals.  Thousands  have  felt 
what  a  famous  man  has  expressed,  that,  were  there 
no  religion,  men  would  of  necessity  invent  it  and 
worship  a  false  idea.  The  religion  of  Mohammed 
is  better  than  the  idolatry  of  the  Arab;  the  idolatry 
of  the  Arab  was  better  than  nothing.  The  races — 
each  at  its  own  stage — have  been  improved  by  their 
religions.  The  Scandinavian  conception  of  Walhalla ; 
the  Ancient  Oracle  at  Dodona,  where  the  priests  in 
gloomy  groves  caught  the  responses  of  Zeus  from 
the  whisperings  of  the  sacred  oaks;  the  ancestor 
worship  of  the  Chinese,  the  system  of  symbolism  in 
Egypt — all  represented  the  struggle  toward  ideal 
life  and  the  notion  of  retributive  justice.  With 
bowed  head  and  reverential  heart  I  would  stand  in 
the  presence  of  any  sincere  devotion,  the  uplift- 
ing of  the  soul  in  prayer  to  the  God  of  its  faith; 
how  much  more  in  the  presence  of  that  worship 
which  the  best  intelligence  of  the  best  races  has 
accepted.  And  how  often  one  misinterprets  the 
real  meaning  of  an  alien  religion.  The  **  Light  of 
Asia"  gives  a  meaning  to  Nirvana  never  heard 
from  the  pulpit: 

"  Foregoing  self,  the  Universe  grows  '  I '; 
If  any  teach  Nirvana  is  to  cease, 
Say  unto  such  they  lie." 

Let  young  men  learn  as  a  common-sense  proposi- 
tion that,  though  creeds  may  change,  though  there 


ETHICAL  AND  ESTHETIC  ELEMENTS.       241 

may  be  frequent  readjustments  of  theological  beliefs, 
the  religious  sentiment  is  an  essential  fact  of  our 
nature,  and  has  a  meaning  the  depth  of  which  they 
have  not  sounded. 


The  love  of  Art  is  necessary  to  the  complete 
man.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  cold,  intellec- 
tual spirit,  one  attains  a  high  standard  of  humanity 
only  when  he  possesses  a  heart  warmed  and  enno- 
bled by  a  vivid  conception  of  the  Beautiful  found  in 
the  rainbow,  the  color  of  the  leaf,  and  the  sparkle 
of  the  rill,  works  framed  in  nature  and  hung  in 
God's  great  art  gallery — the  universe.  Man  sees 
the  real  spirit  shining  through  material  forms,  and 
architecture,  sculpture,  painting,  music,  and  poetry 
follow.  Noble  thought  and  action,  right  and  truth, 
all  perfect  things  partake  of  the  essence  of  Beauty. 
Art  adds  to  nature ;  it  casts  a  halo : 

"  The  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land, 
The  consecration  and  the  Poet's  dream." 

I  have  often  dwelt  upon  the  lines  of  Wordsworth : 

**  To  me  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  can  give 
Thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears." 

I  have  often  wished  to  hear  a  sermon  arguing  from 
this  thought  the  existence  of  God  and  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.  The  peculiar  nature  of  the  soul, 
that  transmutes  sensation  into  divine  emotion — a 
sweetness,  longing,  and  reverence  that  are  not  of 
earth — is  it  not  suggestive  of  all  that  is  claimed  by 
religious  faith  ?  Wordsworth  rightly  ascribed  a 
16 


242 


EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 


dwarfed  nature  to  him  who  sees  only  meaningless 
form  and  dull  color  in  the  flower : 

"  A  primrose  by  a  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him, 
And  it  was  nothing  more." 

That  education  is  inadequate  which  ignores  the 
value  of  man's  aesthetic  nature  and  neglects  its 
growth. 


PROGRESS  AS   REALIZATION. 

' '  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass,  darkly." 

**  Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the 
suns." 

In  the  process  of  development  nature  goes  from 
potentiality  to  higher  and  higher  actuality ;  what  is 
in  its  being  as  tendency  becomes  real.  We  may  not 
suppose  the  movement  that  of  spontaneous  energy 
toward  accidental  results,  but  rather  the  progressive 
realization  of  what  is  in  the  entire  rational  scheme 
of  the  universe. 

From  the  nebular  mass  sprang  worlds  and  suns 
greater  and  less,  substance  and  form  in  infinite 
variety,  plant  life  in  progressive  orders,  animal  life 
in  ascending  types.  Conscious  existence  gradually 
became  responsive  to  the  multitude  of  nature's  im- 
pressions. The  broken  rays  of  light  displayed 
their  rainbow  hues  to  the  growing  power  and  deli- 
cacy of  the  eye ;  sound  revealed  its  keys,  qualities, 
and  harmonies  to  the  increasing  susceptibility  of  the 
ear.  Mind,  as  it  developed,  realized  in  its  con- 
sciousness new  laws  and  ever  greater  wonders  of  the 
outer  world.  On  the  objective  side  the  laws  were, 
the  tinted  sky  and  the  murmuring  stream  were,  be- 
fore mind  became  cognizant  of  them  in  their  perfec- 
tion and  beauty.  Any  serious  contemplation  of  the 
great   law   of   development,    in    its    full   meaning. 


244  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

should  inspire  hope  and  purpose  in  life.  It  sug- 
gests, not  only  sublime  fulfilment  for  the  world, 
but  large  possibility  for  the  individual  man.  The 
natural  world,  plants,  animals,  the  human  race,  in- 
stitutions, science,  art,  religion,  all  animate  individ- 
ual beings,  man  as  an  individual,  have  their  history 
of  development,  which  suggests  its  lesson. 

Nature  is  aspiration.  From  chaos  to  the  world 
of  this  geologic  age,  from  protoplasm  to  man,  from 
savagery  to  civilization,  from  ignorance  to  culture, 
from  symbolism  to  developed  art,  from  egoism  to 
altruism,  from  germ  to  fruit,  from  infancy  to  matu- 
rity, from  realization  to  higher  realization,  has  been 
the  process.  And  this  plan  seems  the  only  one 
adapted  to  satisfy  the  nature  and  thought  of  ra- 
tional being.  A  world  perfected,  all  possibilities 
realized,  no  chance  for  higher  attainment — these  are 
conditions  of  monotony  and  death.  The  old  Hera- 
clitus  was  right  when  he  proclaimed  the  principle 
of  the  world  to  be  a  becoming. 

The  child's  history,  in  a  way,  is  an  epitome  of  the 
history  of  the  race.  At  first  he  is  deaf  and  blind  to  the 
world  of  objects.  Note  how  the  possibilities  of  his 
being  become  realities,  how  knowledge  grows  in  va- 
riety and  definiteness,  until  the  external  world  stands 
revealed,  each  object  in  its  place,  each  event  in  its 
order,  until  notions  of  time,  space,  cause,  and  right 
rise  into  consciousness.  The  child  is  father  of  the 
man  in  the  sense  that  the  man  can  become  only 
what  he  was  implicitly  in  childhood. 

There  is  a  tale  of  Greek  mythology  that  Minerva 
sprang  full-grown  from  the  head  of  Jove — a  perfect 
being.     We  would  rather  contemplate  a  being  with 


PROGRESS  AS  REALIZATION.  245 

possibilities  not  completely  revealed.  A  philoso- 
pher said  that  if  Truth  were  a  bird  which  he  had 
caught  and  held  in  his  hand  he  would  let  it  escape 
for  the  pleasure  of  renewed  pursuit.  There  are  the 
wonders  of  nature  and  of  physical  evolution ;  but 
transcendently  great  are  the  wonders  of  mind,  and 
the  view  of  its  possibilities  of  endless  development — 
a  thing  that  we  believe  will  live  on,  when  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars  shall  be  darkened. 

The  educated  young  man  of  to-day  is  the  heir  of 
the  ages.  All  that  science,  art,  literature,  philoso- 
phy, civilization  have  achieved  is  his.  All  that 
thought  has  realized  through  ages  of  slow  progress, 
all  that  has  been  learned  through  the  mistakes 
made  in  the  dim  light  of  the  dawn  of  human  his- 
tory, all  that  has  been  wrought  out  through  devo- 
tion, struggle,  and  suffering,  he  may  realize  by  the 
process  of  individual  education.  The  law  of  prog- 
ress still  holds  for  the  race  and  for  him.  He  is  a 
free  factor,  with  a  duty  to  help  realize  still  more  of 
the  promise  of  human  existence. 

"  Know  thyself "  was  a  wonderful  maxim  of  the 
ancient  philosopher,  and  it  leads  to  knowledge. 
"  Know  thy  powers  "  is  a  better  maxim  for  practice, 
and  it  is  a  fault  that  men  regard  their  limitations 
and  not  their  capabilities.  We  look  with  contempt 
upon  a  lower  stage  of  our  own  growth.  Not  for 
the  world  would  we  lose  a  little  from  our  highest 
attainment.  The  view  is  relative,  and  we  have 
but  to  advance  our  position  and  life  is  subject  to 
new  interpretation. 

This  is  a  period  of  the  fading  out  of  old  ideals  as 
they  merge  into  higher  ones  not  yet  clearly  defined. 


246  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

The  reverence  for  nature,  for  its  symbolism,  the 
sanctions  of  religion,  the  transcendental  belief,  the 
poetic  insight  have  somewhat  fallen  away,  and  the 
world  is  partly  barren  because  not  yet  rehabilitated. 
Ideals  are  regarded  as  fit  for  schoolgirl  essays,  for 
weakly  sentimentality,  for  dreamers,  for  those  who 
do  not  understand  the  meaning  of  the  new  science 
and  the  new  civilization.  Ideals !  The  transcen- 
dent importance  of  ideals  is  just  appearing.  Not 
an  invention  could  be  made,  not  a  temple  could  be 
built,  not  a  scheme  for  the  improvement  of  govern- 
ment and  society  could  be  constructed,  not  a  poem 
or  a  painting  could  be  executed,  not  an  instance  of 
progress  could  occur  without  ideals.  The  world 
may  be  conceived  as  an  ideal,  the  development  of 
all  things  is  toward  ideals.  We  are  at  a  stage  of  that 
development ;  the  progression  is  infinite,  ever  toward 
perfection,  toward  God,  the  Supreme  Good.  La- 
martine  said  wisely:  *'  The  ideal  is  only  truth  at  a 
distance." 

Do  circumstances  forbid  the  possibility  of  higher 
development  ?  Then  let  the  individual,  in  a  chosen 
vocation,  however  humble,  lose  himself  in  obedi- 
ence and  devotion  to  it,  and  thus,  as  a  hero,  live  to 
his  own  well-being  and  the  welfare  of  others.  There- 
by he  will  find  blessedness.  Carlyle's"  Everlasting 
Yea**  shows  this  passage:  "The  Situation  that 
has  not  its  Duty,  its  Ideal,  was  never  yet  occupied 
by  man.  Yes,  here,  in  this  poor,  miserable,  ham- 
pered, despicable  actual,  wherein  thou  even  now 
standest,  here  or  nowhere  is  thy  Ideal ;  work  it  out 
therefrom ;  and  working,  believe,  live,  be  free. 
Fool !  the  Ideal  is  in  thyself,  the  impediment,  too, 
is  in  thyself;  thy  Condition  is  but  the  stuff  thou  art 


PROGRESS  AS  REALIZATION. 


247 


to  shape  that  same  Ideal  out  of;  what  matters 
whether  such  stuff  be  of  this  sort  or  that,  so  the 
Form  thou  give  it  be  heroic,  be  poetic  ?  O  thou 
that  pinest  in  the  imprisonment  of  the  Actual  and 
criest  bitterly  to  the  gods  for  a  kingdom  wherein  to 
rule  and  create,  know  this  of  a  truth:  the  thing 
thou  seekest  is  already  with  thee,  here  or  nowhere, 
couldst  thou  only  see!  " 

Here  is  a  striking  story,  related  as  true:  A 
young  man  had  met  with  misfortune,  accident,  and 
disease,  and  was  suffering  from  a  third  paralytic 
stroke.  He  had  lost  the  use  of  his  voice,  of  his 
limbs,  and  of  one  arm.  A  friend  visited  him  one 
day  and  asked  how  he  was.  He  reached  for  his 
tablet  and  wrote:  "  All  right,  and  bigger  than  any- 
thing that  can  happen  to  me."  By  energy  of  will, 
by  slowly  increasing  physical  and  mental  exercise, 
he  reconquered  the  use  of  his  body  and  mind — grad- 
ually compelled  the  dormant  nerve  centres  to  awake 
and  resume  their  functions.  Later  he  wrote: 
"  The  great  lesson  it  taught  me  is  that  man  is 
meant  to  be,  and  ought  to  be,  stronger  and  more 
than  anything  that  can  happen  to  him.  Circum- 
stances, fate,  luck  are  all  outside,  and,  if  we  cannot 
always  change  them,  we  can  always  beat  them.  If 
I  couldn't  have  what  I  wanted,  I  decided  to  want 
what  I  had,  and  that  simple  philosophy  saved 
me." 

A  healthy  philosophy,  speculative  or  common 
sense,  a  healthy  ethics,  theoretical  or  practical,  are 
indispensable  to  youth.  Away  with  unfree  will, 
and  pessimism,  and  pleasure  philosophy,  and  the 
notion  of  a  perfected  world  and  a  goal  attained. 
Substitute  therefor  vigorous  freedom,  cheerful  faith 


248  E DUCAT JOuV  AND  LIFE. 

and  hope,  right  and  duty,  and  belief  in  develop- 
ment. Most  of  the  great  poets  and  artists,  most  of 
the  successful  business  men  have  struggled  with 
difficulties,  and  have  wrought  out  of  their  conditions 
their  success.  Burns  did  not  permit  poverty,  ob- 
scurity, lack  of  funds,  lack  of  patronage,  lack  of 
time  to  destroy  or  weaken  the  impulse  of  his  gen- 
ius. Shakespeare  (if  this  poet-king  be  not  indeed 
dethroned  by  logic)  with  but  imperfect  implements 
of  his  craft  wrought  heroically,  and  realized  the 
highest  possibilities  of  literary  creation.  The  biog- 
raphy of  success  is  filled  with  the  names  of  men  in 
a  sense  self-made. 

Education  is  the  unfolding  of  our  powers.  There 
is  the  realm  of  knowledge :  the  relations  of  number 
and  space,  as  revealed  to  a  Laplace  or  a  Newton ; 
the  discoveries  and  interpretations  of  science,  as 
they  appear  to  a  Tyndall  or  a  Spencer ;  history,  in 
whose  light  alone  we  can  fully  interpret  any  subject 
of  knowledge ;  literature,  whose  pages  glow  with  the 
best  thought  and  feeling  of  mankind;  philosophy 
and  religious  truth,  with  their  grasp  of  the  meaning 
of  life;  art,  that  is  a  divine  revelation  in  material 
form — all  that  has  been  realized  in  the  consciousness 
of  man.  The  race  has  taken  ages  to  attain  the  pres- 
ent standard  of  civilization  and  enlightenment.  The 
life  of  the  individual  attains  it  through  education. 
With  some  distinction  of  native  tendencies,  educa- 
tion makes  the  difference  between  the  Dahoman 
and  the  Bostonian.  Tennyson,  in  his  "  Locksley 
Hall,"  in  a  mood  of  disappointment  and  pessimism, 
would  seek  the  land  of  palms,  of  savagery  and 
ignorance,  and  abjure  the  "  march  of  Mind"  and 
"thoughts  that  shake  mankind;"  but  a  healthful 


PROGRESS  AS  REALIZATION: 


249 


reaction  arouses  again  his  better  impulse,  and  he 
counts  **  the  gray  barbarian  lower  than  the  Christian 
child. 

Every  young  man  who  aims  at  medicine,  theol- 
ogy, law,  or  teaching,  who  aims  at  the  best  devel- 
opment of  his  powers,  needs  all  the  education  he 
can  gain  before  he  enters  upon  independent  labor. 
All  need  a  broad  foundation  of  general  knowledge 
upon  which  to  rear  the  structure  of  special  knowl- 
edge and  skill.  Our  grandfathers  got  along  with 
the  grammar  school,  the  academy,  college,  and 
apprentice  system ;  we  need  the  high  school,  the 
graduate  school,  and  the  professional  school.  Men 
go  into  the  field  of  labor  without  map,  implements, 
or  skill,  and  then  wonder  why  they  do  not  suc- 
ceed. The  generation  has  advanced  ;  more  is  known, 
more  is  demanded,  and  undeveloped  thought  and 
skill  soon  find  their  limitations  in  the  practical 
world. 

We  are  called  upon  not  only  to  feel,  but  to  act ; 
not  merely  to  know,  but  to  impart.  The  inner 
life  is  to  realize  itself  in  the  outer  world  of 
action.  Ideals  are  to  be  followed  closely  by 
deeds.  A  mere  recluse  is  not  in  harmony  with  the 
times. 

There  is  a  thought  in  the  following  passage  from 
Goethe  not  inappropriate  in  this  place: 

' '  Wouldst  thou  win  desires  unbounded  ? 

Yonder  see  the  glory  burn  ! 
Lightly  is  thy  life  surrounded — 

Sleep's  a  shell,  to  break  and  spurn  ! 
When  the  crowd  sways,  unbelieving, 

Show  the  daring  will  that  warms  ! 
He  is  crowned  with  all  achieving 

Who  perceives  and  then  performs." 


250  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

The  child  does  not  at  first  discriminate  colors, 
but  later  realizes  distinctions  permanently  existent. 
The  child  does  not  at  first  realize  the  force  of  the 
abstract  idea  of  right ;  but,  when  the  idea  appears, 
it  is  not  so  much  an  evolution  as  a  realization  in  the 
process  of  evolution  of  the  child's  consciousness. 
In  the  development  of  life  on  the  earth  a  time  came 
when  human  beings  realized  the  existence  and  obli- 
gation of  right  as  a  new  idea  to  them,  not  one 
**  compounded  of  many  simples."  However  pro- 
duced, we  may  suppose  that  when  it  appears  it  is  a 
unique  thing,  a  binding  and  divine  thing,  a  thing 
carrying  with  it  all  the  implications  of  the  Kantian 
philosophy — God,  Freedom,  and  Immortality. 

How  religion,  philosophy,  ethics,  maxims  of  ex- 
perience, dictates  of  prudence  proclaim  to  the  ear  of 
the  youth  the  necessity  of  realizing  in  idea  and  prac- 
tice a  progressive,  upward  tendency  of  character! 
Vice  is  not  a  realization,  but  degeneration.  Vice 
paralyzes  the  will,  paralyzes  the  intellect,  paralyzes 
the  finer  emotions,  paralyzes  the  body,  deadens  the 
conscience  to  all  that  is  positive  and  worthy.  Men 
often  regard  only  the  larger  duties,  but  character  is 
often  made  by  the  sum  of  little  duties  performed. 
We  are  ready  to  use  great  opportunities  only  when 
we  have  trained  our  powers  by  diligent  performance 
of  humble  work.  Carlyle  says:  ''Do  the  Duty 
which  lies  nearest  thee^  which  thou  knowest  to  be  a 
Duty!  Thy  second  Duty  will  already  have  become 
clearer.  * ' 

It  broadens  our  view  of  religion  to  hold  that  the 
divine  impulse  works  in  all  men,  and  leads  them 
toward  truth ;  that  no  age  or  people  has  been  left 
in   utter   darkness;    that  there  is   something  com- 


PJ^OGRESS  AS  REALIZATION. 


251 


mon  to  all  religions;  and  that  in  time  God's  full 
revelation  will  come  to  all  nations. 

"  Whoe'er  aspires  unweariedly 
Is  not  beyond  redeeming." 

May  we  not  ask  if  the  experience  distinctively 
called  Christian  is  not  an  actuality,  the  highest 
blossom  of  religious  growth — if  it  is  not  a  realization 
possible  for  all,  if  it  is  not  an  ideal  sweetly,  nay, 
transcendently,  inviting  ?  One  who  has  read  the 
following  lines  from  Goethe  will  never  forget  them ; 
he  has  had  a  glimpse  of  the  Holy  of  Holies : 

"  Once  Heavenly  Love  sent  down  a  burning  kiss 

Upon  my  brow,  in  Sabbath  silence  holy  ; 

And,  filled  with  mystic  presage,  chimed  the  church  bell  slowly, 
And  prayer  dissolved  me  in  a  fervent  bliss, — 

A  sweet,  uncomprehended  yearning 
Drove  forth  my  feet  through  woods  and  meadows  free, 

And  while  a  thousand  tears  were  burning, 
I  felt  a  world  arise  for  me." 

I  sat  on  the  veranda  at  my  home  at  the  close  of 
a  beautiful  day.  The  western  glow  was  fading  into 
a  faint  rose  color.  The  pine  trees  on  the  neighbor- 
ing mountain  top  stood  out  in  magnified  distinctness 
against  the  bright  background.  A  bird  in  a  near 
tree  sang  its  good-night  song.  Just  over  the  moun- 
tain peak  a  star  shone  out  like  a  diamond  set  in  pale 
gold.  The  great  earth  silently  turned  and  hid  the 
star  behind  the  pines.  The  ragged  outline  of  moun- 
tains loomed  up  with  weird  effect.  The  breeze 
freshened  and  waved  the  branches  of  the  elms  grace- 
fully in  broader  curves;  it  seemed  to  come  down 
from  the  heights  as  if  with  a  message.  It  was 
a  time  for  meditation.  My  thoughts  turned  for  a 
hundredth  time  to  the  significance  of  the  higher 


252  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

emotional  effects  in  the  presence  of  natural  beauty 
and  sublimity,  and  in  the  contemplation  of  exalted 
aesthetic  and  ethical  conceptions. 

When  the  hand  of  nature  touches  the  chords  of 
the  human  heart,  may  we  not  believe  that  the  hand 
and  the  harp  are  of  divine  origin,  and  that  the  music 
produced  is  heavenly  ?  I  mean  that  the  human  soul 
with  all  its  refinement  of  emotion  is  not  material, 
but  spiritual  and  Godlike;  that  it  has  written  upon 
it  a  sacred  message,  an  assurance  not  of  earth  that 
its  destiny  is  boundless  in  time  and  possibility — a 
message  profound  in  its  meaning  as  the  unsearch- 
able depth  of  God's  being. 

All  human  institutions  are  progressive.  Each 
stage  of  civilization  is  complete  in  itself,  but  pre- 
paratory to  another  and  higher  stage.  Liberty,  the 
art  idea,  the  religious  idea  develop  more  and  more 
as  men  realize  in  consciousness  higher  truths  and 
standards.  From  the  art  that  found  expression  in 
the  cromlechs  of  the  Druids  to  the  highest  embodi- 
ment of  spiritual  ideas,  from  crude  faith  to  philo- 
sophic and  religious  insight,  from  rude  mechanism  to 
magnificence  of  structure  and  invention — such  has 
been  history,  such,  we  believe,  will  be  history.  No 
wonder  Carlyle  exclaims:  "  Is  not  man's  history  and 
men's  history  a  perpetual  Evangel  ?  " — an  announce- 
ment of  glad  tidings  ? 

It  is  in  this  philosophy  that  the  hope  of  the  solu- 
tion of  many  present  problems  is  found.  In  medi- 
aeval times  the  feudal  system  was  the  reconciliation 
of  the  opposing  interests  of  men  in  a  unity  of  service 
and  protection.  Later  new  conflicts  arose  which 
resulted  in  freedom  for  all  classes.     To-day  opposi- 


PROGRESS  AS  REALIZATION. 


253 


tion  has  grown  from  the  selfish  interests  of  capital 
and  labor,  and  we  believe  the  reconciliation  will  be 
found  in  a  unity  which  will  equitably  combine  the 
interests  of  both.  Change  is  the  law.  The  phoenix, 
ever  rising  from  its  own  ashes,  is  stronger  in  pinion 
and  more  daring  in  flight. 

Plato  held  to  the  doctrine  of  ideas,  of  eternal 
verities,  the  archetypes  of  all  forms  of  existence, 
and  believed  growth  in  wisdom  to  be  a  gradual  real- 
ization of  these  ideas  in  consciousness.  Modern 
Platonism  makes  man  a  part  of  the  Divine  Being, 
with  power  to  progress  in  knowledge  of  truth  and  in 
moral  insight.  This  progress  aims  at  an  ultimate 
end  that  is  both  a  realization  and  a  reward.  This 
view  explains  our  nature  and  aspirations,  our  intui- 
tive notions  and  sense  of  right;  it  explains  the 
seeming  providence  that  runs  through  history  and 
makes  all  things  work  together  for  good ;  it  ex- 
plains that  harmony  of  the  soul  with  nature  that 
constitutes  divine  music;  it  explains  the  insight  of 
the  poet  and  the  faith  of  man.  Any  new  theory 
must  be  a  continuation  of  the  past  instead  of  stand- 
ing in  contradiction  to  it,  must  reveal  the  deeper 
meaning  of  old  truth.  The  spiritual  truths  that 
belong  to  the  history  of  man  must  be  included  in 
the  new  philosophy.  Theories  must  explain  in  ac- 
cordance with  common  sense,  and  make  harmony, 
not  discord,  in  our  intellectual,  aesthetic,  and  moral 
feelings. 

"  For  we  know  in  part,  and  we  prophesy  in  part. 
"  But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then 
that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away. 

"  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass,  darkly;  but 


254  EDUCATION  AND  LIFE. 

then  face  to  face:    now  I  know  in  part;  but  then 
shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known/' 

"  Still,  through  our  paltry  stir  and  strife, 

Glows  down  the  wished  Ideal, 
And  Longing  moulds  in  clay  what  Life 

Carves  in  the  marble  Real ; 
To  let  the  new  life  in,  we  know, 

Desire  must  ope  the  portal  ; — 
Perhaps  the  longing  to  be  so 

Helps  make  the  soul  immortal. 

"  Longing  is  God's  fresh  heavenward  will 

With  our  poor  earthward  striving  ; 
We  quench  it  that  we  may  be  still 

Content  with  merely  living  : 
But  would  we  learn  that  heart's  full  scope 

Which  we  are  hourly  wronging, 
Our  lives  must  climb  from  hope  to  hope 

And  realize  our  longing." 


T*  OF   THE  ^ 


UNIVERSITY 
^CALIFQ^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


DEC    3   194/ 


^SOct^RP 


JUL 


LIBRARY  ^ 
APR  7     1955  LU 


n^C'D  LD 

U^R^R^  >^E  1959 
U1958 


,3Wafo'oH^S^ 


wivv 


19S 


i-  i.".. 


.ec-' 


RZCD  LD 

APR    9  1961 


LD  21-100rn-9,'47(A57028l6)476 


YB  4416 


